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I 


THE 




Gospel in the Stars ; 

OR, 

Pnmebal ^stronontg* 



JOSEPH A. SEISS, D.D., LL.D. 


NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION. 





J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 
1885. 


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% ■ ± / 






Copyright, 1884, 

By JOSEPH A. SEISS. 


Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereo typers and Electrotypers• 










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PREFACE. 

It may seem adventurous to propose to read the 
Gospel of Christ from what Herschel calls “ those 
uncouth figures and outlines of men and monsters 
usually scribbled over celestial globes and maps.” 
So it once would have seemed to the writer. But 
a just estimate of the case cannot be formed without 
a close survey of what these figures are, what rela¬ 
tions they bear to each other, whence they originated, 
and what meaning was attached to them by the most 
ancient peoples from whom they have been trans¬ 
mitted to us. Such a survey the author of this vol¬ 
ume has endeavored to make. From an extended 
induction he has also reached conclusions which 
lead him to think he may do good service by giving 
publicity to the results of his examinations. 

The current explanations of the origin and mean¬ 
ing of the constellations certainly are not such as 
should satisfy those in search of positive truth. 
Herschel characterizes them as “ puerile and absurd.” 
They are nowhere to be found outside of Greece and 
Rome and modern works which have thence derived 
them. They are part of the staple in the theories 
and arguments of infidelity. The more ancient and 

3 


4 


PREFACE. 


more knowing peoples never so explained these ce¬ 
lestial signs, but uniformly regarded them as divine 
in source and sacred in significance. Even Greece 
and Rome never could separate them from their 
worship, their gods, and their hopes of futurity, 
whilst some of their best authors devoutly referred 
to them as divine. The theory that they have come 
from natural observations of the seasons and man’s 
occupations in different parts of the year is but a 
rationalistic conjecture, unsupported by facts or an¬ 
alogy. It is the mere guess of men pressed by the 
presence of a great and masterly system marked on 
the heavens for which they knew not how to account 
—a guess which will not stand the test of its own 
assumptions or common sense, much less the light 
now in the world’s possession respecting the remoter 
antiquities of man. That some Greek and Roman 
authors, who never understood any of these things,* 
should indulge in such unfounded suppositions is 
not remarkable; but that people of learning and 
science, jealous of building on anything but solid 
grounds, should still entertain and reiterate them 
for ascertained verities, is very surprising. And if 
men are constrained thus to accept and repeat them 
from sheer inability otherwise to solve the problem, 
it should convince them that they have not yet risen 
to the true character and dignity of these ancient 
records, and dispose them to a fresh and searching 
re-examination of the whole subject, to which this 
book is meant to furnish some humble aid. 

* See Grote’s History of Greece , vol. i. pp. 394-444. 


PREFACE. 


5 


The first suspicion that the original constellations 
may perhaps have come from a divine or prophetic 
source was impressed upon the writer’s mind in con¬ 
nection with his studies of the marvellous wisdom 
embodied in the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. But it 
came only in the shape of an inference, which needed 
to be tested on its own independent grounds before 
it could be reasonably accepted. That inference, 
however, was so direct, and the subject seemed so 
worthy of being investigated, that a course of spe¬ 
cial study was instituted to ascertain, apart from all 
pyramid-theories, whether the facts and probabilities 
in the case would warrant a conclusion of so much 
moment. 

A new field of inquiry thus opened, for the explo¬ 
ration of which but few helps beyond the ordinary 
books on astronomy could be found. Something, 
however, had been done by Bailly in his History 
of Astronomy, Dupuis in his LOrigines des Cultus , 
Volney in Les Ruines , and some other writers of 
the same class. To throw contempt on Christianity 
as a mere accommodation of certain old mythic 
ideas common to all primitive peoples, these men 
adduced a large amount of traditional and astro¬ 
nomic lore, proving the great antiquity of the con¬ 
stellations, and showing a striking correspondence 
between them and the subsequent scriptural story 
of Christ and salvation. Able theologians like Rob¬ 
erts and Faber, in making replies to these French 
skeptics, were obliged to admit the strong array of 
facts alleged, and could only surmise a variety of 


6 


PREFACE. 


explanations to do away with the intended conclu¬ 
sion as a non seqnitur. The argument of these in¬ 
fidels is indeed fatally defective, especially in assum¬ 
ing that the old astronomy throughout, and all the 
myths and worships associated with it, have come 
solely from the natural observation and imagination 
of man, apart from all supernatural light, revelation, 
or inspiration. With this starting-point unproven 
and incapable of verification, and with the positive 
assertions of all the primeval world and all the indi¬ 
cations directly to the contrary, the whole argument 
necessarily breaks down. Like all the efforts of 
unbelief, it signally fails. But though the argu¬ 
ment, as such, is false and worthless, it does not fol¬ 
low that the materials collected to build it are the 
same. For the most part, they are solid enough in 
themselves, and the gathering of them was a valu¬ 
able contribution to a better cause. The showings 
made of the close likeness between the old constel¬ 
lations and the Gospel are well founded, and can 
now be illustrated to a much greater and more mi¬ 
nute extent. But, instead of proving Christianity a 
mere revival of old mythologies, they give powerful 
impulse toward the conclusion that the constellations 
and their associated myths and traditions are them¬ 
selves, in their original, from the very same pro¬ 
phetic Spirit whence the Sacred Scriptures have 
come, and that they are of a piece with the bib¬ 
lical records in the system of God’s universal enun¬ 
ciations of the Christ. 

Gale, in his Court of the Gentiles , Faber, On Pagan 


PREFACE. 


7 


Idolatry, Roberts, in his Letters to Volney, Haslam, on 
The Cross and the Serpent, and the author of Pri¬ 
meval Man Unveiled, have slightly touched upon the 
subject, and furnish some materials in the direction 
of the same conclusions. 

Sir William Drummond, in his Origines, C. Piazzi 
Smyth, in his Life and Work, and J. T. Goodsir, On 
Ethnic Inspiration, also present some important facts 
and considerations relating to the general inquiry. 

A more valuable aid to the study of the subject 
as treated in this volume is Frances Rolleston’s 
Mazzaroth ; or, The Constellations —a book from an 
authoress of great linguistic and general literary at¬ 
tainments, whom Providence rarely favored for the 
collection of important facts and materials, partic¬ 
ularly as respects the ancient stellar nomenclature. 
The tables drawn up by Ulugh Beigh, the Tartar 
prince and astronomer, about A. d. 1420, giving Ara¬ 
bian astronomy as it had come down to his time, 
with the ancient Coptic and Egyptian names, like¬ 
wise the much earlier presentations, made about A. d. 
850 by Albumazer, the great Arab astronomer of 
the Caliphs of Grenada, and Aben Ezra’s commen¬ 
taries on the same, are, to a considerable extent, re¬ 
produced in her book. Fac-similes of the Dendera 
and Esne Zodiacs are also given in the last edition 
(1875) of her work. And from her tables and refer¬ 
ences the writer of these Lectures was helped to 
some of his best information, without which this 
book could hardly have become what it is. 

If any others have treated directly, or even inci- 


8 


PREFACE. 


dentally, of what is sought to be shown in this vol¬ 
ume, its author has not discovered their records or 
their names. 

With but little, therefore, but the star-maps and 
descriptions as given by astronomers, and such no¬ 
tices of the constellations as are to be found in the 
remains of antiquity and general literature, he had 
to make his way as best he could. With what suc¬ 
cess he has done his work, and in how far his con¬ 
clusions are entitled to credit or respect, he now 
submits to the decision of a candid and intelligent 
public. 

Festival of the Epiphany, ) 

Philadelphia, 1882. j 


Table of Contents. 


Eecture dFitst. 

PAGES 

The Starry Worlds. 15-38 

The Sun—Vastness of the Universe—Objects of these Creations— 
The Stars as Signs—Record the Promises' of Redemption— 
The Glory of God—The Gospel Story—How the Stars are made 
to Speak—Star-groups—Figures of the Star-groups. 

^Lecture Second 

The Sacred Constellations. 39—65 

The Constellations—The Zodiac—The Twelve Signs—Mansions 
of the Moon—The Decans of the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac 
—The Planets—The Constellations Divine—Age of the Con¬ 
stellations—The Sabbatic Week and the Stars—The Alphabet 
and the Stars. 

Eecture Cfn'tfc. 

The Desire of Nations. 66-89 

The Ethnic Myths of a Coming Saviour—Infidel Argument-—The 
Sacred Intention of the Signs traceable—A Covered Picture— 
The Sign of Virgo —The Virgin’s Son—Coma—The Desire of 
Nations—The Double Nature—Bootes—The Great Shepherd— 
Summary on Virgo. 

lUcture dFcurtf). 

The Suffering Redeemer. 90-113 . 

The Sign of Libra —Commercial Idea in Christianity—The South¬ 
ern Cross—The Cross as a Sign—The Victim Slain—A Turn in 
the History—The Northern Crown—A Sneer Answered. 

9 







IO 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


^Lecture dFtfti). 

PAGES 

The Toiling Deliverer. 114-137 

The Ancient Mysteries —The Sign of Scorpio —The Suffering 
Saviour—The Serpent—Ophiuchus—TEsculapius—The Great 
Physician—Hercules and his Twelve Labors—A Picture of 
Christ. 

Ilecture Stitt). 

The Triumphant Warrior. 138-161 

The Sign of Sagittarius —Cheiron—The Hero-Prophet of Double 
Nature—The Harp—The Lyre of Orpheus—The Universal Joy 
—Ara, the Burning Pyre—The Under-world—The Dragon— 
Origin of the Symbol of the Dragon—Slayers of the Dragon. 

Uecture Sebnttf). 

Death and New Life. 162-188 

Order of the Signs— The Sign of Capricornus —Type and Antitype 
—The Church—The Mystical Union—The Myths—Spiritual 
Conceptions—The Arrow—The Pierced Eagle—The Dolphin 
—Death and Resurrection—Salvation through Atonement—• 
The Faith of the Patriarchs. 

Eecture IBtgfjtf). 

The Living Waters. 189-210 

Water —The Sign of Aquarius —Promise of the Holy Spirit— 
The Waters of Life—The Southern Fish—Pegasus—The Good 
News—The Pierian Springs—The Swan—Lord of the Waters— 
The Carried Cross—A Beautiful Picture—The Fountain Flows. 

Hectute TSTtntf). 

The Mystic Fishes. 211-232 

Apostolic Fishing —The Sign of Pisces —The Myths—Twofoldness 
of the Church—The Band of the Fishes—Cepheus—The Church’s 
King—Andromeda—The Church in this World—Andromeda’s 
Chains—Ill-favor of the Church—Church not from the Signs. 







TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


II 


^Lecture Centf). 

PAGES 

The Blessed Outcome. 233-257 

The Lamb in Heaven —The Sign of Aries —The Mythic Stories 
—Cassiopeia—The Church Delivered—Cetus—Satan Bound—• 
Perseus—The Myths—Perseus and Christ—Medusa’s Head— 
The Church’s Hope—Union with the Church. 

Eecture ISlebentf). 

The Day of the Lord. 258-284 

A Psalm of Redemption—The Unicorn, or Reem—The Judgment 
— The Sign of Taurus —The Myths—The Sacred Prophecies— 
Orion—The Glorious Prince—Myths on Orion—Eridanus—The 
River of Fire—Mercy in Judgment—Auriga—The Great Shep¬ 
herd—A Solemn Outlook. 

ILecture Ctoelftf). 

The Heavenly Union. 285-310 

The Sign of Gemini —Mythic Accounts—The Star-names— 
Christ’s Union with His Church—The Marriage of the Lamb 
—Lepus, the Mad Enemy—Sirius, or the Nazseirene—The 
Sublime Prince—The Companion of Sirius—The Myths— 
Summary on Gemini. 

ILecture Cfjtrteentf). 

The Blessed Possession.. 311—335 

The Oath of God —The Sign of Cancer —The Crab—The Scara- 
bseus—Prsesepe—The Heavenly Rest—The Myths—The Names 
—Ursa Minor—The Lesser Sheepfold—The Pole-Star—Ursa Ma¬ 
jor—The Greater Sheepfold—Argo—The Names—The Treasure 
Secured—A Sweet Consolation. 

ILecture ^Fourteentf). 

The Consummated Victory. 336-360 

The Lion—Christ as the Lion—The Lion-work —The Sign of 
Leo —Hydra—The Serpent Deceiver—Myths and Names—Cra¬ 
ter, or the Cup of Wrath—Corvus, or the Raven—Career and 
Fate of the Serpent—The End. 







12 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


Hecture jptfteentf). 

PAGES 

The Secrets of Wisdom. 361-386 

Things More than they Seem—The Ground thus Far—The Lunar 
Zodiac—Names of the Lunar Mansions—Record the Story of 
Redemption—The Milky Way—Signs in and on this Way— 
Names of the Primeval Patriarchs—The Names, Standards, and 
Jewel-representatives of the Twelve Tribes of Israel—The Jewel- 
foundations of the New Jerusalem. 

ILecture Jotxteentfj. 

Primeval Man. 387-423 

Age of Astronomy—Dates back to Adam’s Time—The Facts— 
The Traditions—The Bible Representations—Reasonableness 
of the Case—Claimed to be Originally from God—The Star- 
Record itself—Contents of its Three Books—Inevitable Infer¬ 
ences—The First Man not a Gorilla—Revelation a Fact. 

Hecture 5ebenteentf). 

The Star of Bethlehem. 424-452 

Visit of the Magi—Diverse Opinions about the Star—Astronomic 
Facts—A Primitive Tradition—A New Star in Coma—Con¬ 
junctions of Jupiter and Saturn—The Sign of the Fishes—The 
Following of the Star—Junction of Prophecy and Astronomy— 
Who the Magi were—Sum of the Whole—Conclusion. 

Supplement 

(New Matter.') 

Notices of this Book—Criticisms—No Champion for the Current 
Theories —The Southern Cross —Is one of the Ancient Signs— 
Dr. Seyffarth—Origin of Language and Writing—Science and 
the Constellations—The Bible and the Constellations—The 
Book of Job—The Hebrew Prophets—The New Testament— 
The Star Bible... 453 

Index, and Glossary of the Star-names. 511 









The profoundest riddles of the world have often remained con¬ 
cealed, not because of their great intricacy, but because of their 
exceeding simplicity.—C zolbe. 


When truth is found, it always proves to be somewhat like the 
egg of Columbus.—S chelling. 


It is the pert, superficial thinker who is generally the strongest 
in all kinds of unbelief.—S ir Humphry Davy. 




“ Why did not somebody teach me the constellations and make 
me at home in the starry heavens, which are always overhead, and 
which I don’t half know to this day?”— Thomas Carlyle. 


" This prospect vast, what is it ?—Weighed aright, 

’Tis Nature’s system of divinity; 

’Tis Elder Scripture, writ by God’s own hand: 

Scripture authentic! uncorrupt by man.” 

Edward Young. 


“ The mysteries of the Incarnation, from the Conception on to the 
Ascension Jato heaven, are shown us on the face of the sky, and are 
signified by the stars.”— Albertus Magnus. 


14 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


?iectuve jUrst, 


THE STARRY WORLDS. 


Gen. I : 14: “ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament 
of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for 
signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years.” 



HE sublimest visible objects of human 


JL contemplation are the Starry Heavens. 
The beholder is awed at every thoughtful 
look upon them. And when viewed in the 
light of astronomical science the mind is over¬ 
whelmed and lost amid the vastness and mag¬ 
nificence of worlds and systems which roll 
and shine above, around and beneath us. 


The Sun. 


The most conspicuous, to us, of these won¬ 
derful orbs is the Sun. Seemingly, it is not 
as large as the wheel of a wagon, but when 
we learn that we see it only at the distance 


15 



16 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

of more than ninety-one millions of miles, 
and consider how the apparent size of objects 
diminishes in proportion to their remoteness, 
we justly conclude that it must be of enor¬ 
mous magnitude to be so conspicuous across 
a gulf so vast. Our earth is a large body; 
it takes long and toilsome journeying for a 
man to make his way around it. But the Sun 
fills more than a million times the cubic space 
filled by the earth. A railway-train running 
thirty miles an hour, and never stopping, 
could not go around it in less than eleven 
years, nor run the distance from the earth to 
the Sun in less than three hundred and sixty 
years. If we were to take a string long 
enough to reach the moon, and draw a circle 
with it at its utmost stretch, the Sun would 
still be six times larger than that circle. Be¬ 
longing to the system of which it is the centre 
there are eight primary planets, some of them 
more than a thousand times larger than our 
earth, besides eighty-five asteroids, twenty- 
one satellites or moons, and several hundred 
comets. But the Sun itself is six hundred 
times greater than all these planets and their 
satellites put together. The greatest of them 
might be thrown into it, and would be to it 
no more than a drop to a bucket, a bird-shot 


VASTNESS OF THE UNIVERSE. 17 

to a cannon-ball, or an infant’s handful to a 
bushel measure. 

The Vastness of the Universe. 

But, great and glorious as the Sun is, and 
seemingly so much greater than every other 
object in the sky, it is really only a tiny frag¬ 
ment, a mere speck, in the magnificent starry 
empire of which it is a part. It is less to the 
material universe at large than a globule to 
our globe. With all its retinue of ponderous 
orbs, it is only one of innumerable hosts of 
such suns and systems. There are myriads 
of stars in space immeasurably greater than 
it. They look very diminutive in comparison 
with it, but they are hundreds of thousands 
of times farther off. A ball shot from a can¬ 
non and moving at the rate of five hundred 
miles an hour could not reach the nearest of 
them in less than thirteen millions of years. 
Light is the rapidest of known travellers. 
A ray from the Sun reaches us in about eight 
and a quarter minutes. But there are some 
stars in these heavens known to be so remote 
that if a ray of light had started from them 
direct for our world when Adam drew his 
first breath, it would hardly yet have reached 
the earth. Sirius alone gives out nearly four 

2 * B 


1 8 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

hundred times as much light as the Sun, and 
yet Sirius is a star of moderate size among 
the stars. The Sun is no more to many other 
stars than one of our smaller planets is to it. 
We know that the Sun turns on its axis as 
the earth turns, and that it is ever moving on 
a journey around some transcendently greater 
centre, just as the earth and other planets 
revolve around it as their centre. It takes 
the earth one year to complete its revolution 
around the Sun, but it takes the Sun eighteen 
millions of our years to make its revolution 
around the centre which it obeys. 

We are amazed and overwhelmed in the 
contemplation of worlds and systems so vast. 
But there is solid reason for believing that all 
these tremendous systems, in which uncounted 
suns take the place of planets, are themselves 
but satellites of still immeasurably sublimer 
orbs, and thus on upward, through systems on 
systems, to some supreme physical Omnipo¬ 
tent, where the unsearchable Jehovah has 
His throne, and whence He gives forth His 
invincible laws to the immensity of His glori¬ 
ous realm. 

These are the “lights,” light-bearers, or 
luminaries to which the text refers, and which 
the potent creative Word has brought into 


OBJECTS OF THESE CREATIONS . 1 9 

being and placed in the firmament of the 
heaven. 

Objects of these Material Creations. 

Such wonderful creations of almighty pow¬ 
er and wisdom were not without a purpose. 
It was the will of the eternal God to be known 
—to have creatures to understand and enjoy 
His glory — to provide for them suitable 
homes—to acquaint them with His intelli¬ 
gence, power, and perfections—to fill them 
with a sense of the existence and potent pres¬ 
ence of an infinite creative Mind, from which 
all things proceed and on which all creatures 
depend. 

All the purposes of creation we cannot be¬ 
gin to fathom or comprehend. No plummet¬ 
line of human understanding can reach the 
bottom of such depths. We stand on solid 
ground, however, when we say and believe 
that the intent of the physical universe is to 
declare and display the majesty and glory of its 
Creator. Hence the apostolic assertion : “The 
invisible things of Him from the creation of 
the world are clearly seen, being understood 
by the things that are made, even His eternal 
power and Godhead.” But the particular ends 
and objects included in this grand purpose 


20 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


are as multitudinous and diverse as the things 
themselves. Among the rest, there is one 
specially expressed and emphasized in the 
text. When God created these heavenly 
worlds He said, “And let them be for signs.” 

The Stars as Signs. 

A sign is something arbitrarily selected and 
appointed to represent some other thing. The 
letters of the alphabet are “signs”—signs of 
sounds and numbers. The notes on a clef of 
musical writing are “signs”—signs of the 
pitch and value of certain tones of voice or 
instrument. There is no relation whatever 
between these “signs” and the things they 
signify, except that men have agreed to em¬ 
ploy them for these purposes. Their whole 
meaning as “signs” is purely conventional 
and arbitrary—something quite beyond and 
above what pertains to their nature. And so 
with all “ signs.” 

When Moses said that the swarm of flies 
should be a “sign” to the Egyptians, there 
was nothing in the nature of the thing to 
show what was thereby signified. When the 
prophet told Hezekiah that the going back 
of the shadow on the dial should be a “ sign ” 
that he would recover from his sickness, 


THE STARS AS SIGNS. 


21 


live yet fifteen years, and see Jerusalem 
delivered out of the hand of the Syrian in¬ 
vader, there was nothing in the nature of the 
thing to express this gracious meaning. Isa¬ 
iah’s walking barefoot had no natural connec¬ 
tion with the Syrian conquest of Egypt, and 
yet this was “for a sign” of that fact. And 
thus when God said of the celestial lumina¬ 
ries, “and let them be for signs £ He meant 
that they should be used to signify something 
beyond and additional to what they evidence 
and express in their nature and natural offices. 
Nor can any sense be attached to the words, 
consistent with the dignity of the record, with¬ 
out admitting that God intended from the be¬ 
ginning that these orbs of light should be 
made to bear, express, record, and convey 
some special teaching different from what is 
naturally deducible from them. 

What the stars were thus meant to signify , 
over and above what is evidenced by their 
own nature, interpreters have been at a loss 
to tell us. And yet there should not be such a 
total blank on the subject. Light has been at 
hand all the while. For ages this whole field 
has been almost entirely left to a superstitious 
and idolatrous astrology, which has befouled 
a noble and divine science and done immeas- 


22 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


urable damage to the souls of men. But we 
here find it claimed to be a sacred domain laid 
out of God in the original intent of creatio'n 
itself. And when I look at the deep and al¬ 
most universal hold which a spurious and 
wicked treatment of this field has so long 
had upon mankind, I have been the more led 
to suspect the existence of some original, 
true, and sacred thing back of it, out of which 
all this false science and base superstition has 
grown, and of which it is the perversion. 
There is no potent system of credulity in the 
world which has not had some great truth at 
the root of it. Evil is always perverted good, 
as dirt is simply matter out of place. It is 
the spoliation of some better thing going be¬ 
fore it. And so there is reason to think that 
there is, after all, some great, original, divine 
science connected with the stars, which as¬ 
trology has prostituted to its own base ends, 
and which it is our duty to search out and 
turn to its proper evangelic use. 

“As from the oldest times the suns and 
other worlds have been arranged into groups, 
is it not allowable to inquire whether there 
was not a unity of purpose and connected 
meaning in them, though these grotesque 
figures are represented as hieroglyphs which 


THE STARS AS SIGNS. 23 

we trace to the Chaldeans and Phoenicians ?” 
is a question which Ingemann, the distinguished 
Danish author, puts, and who was by far more 
persuaded of their probable reference to di¬ 
vine revelations than of their origin as more 
commonly explained. 

Richer, a French writer, has repeatedly as¬ 
serted that the whole primitive revelation may 
be traced in the constellations. 

Albumazer describes the various constella¬ 
tions as known over all the world from the 
beginning, and says, “ Many attributed to 
them a divine and prophetic virtue.” 

Cicero, in translating the account of the 
constellations by Aratus, says, “ The signs are 
measured out, that in so many descriptions 
divine wisdom might appear.” 

Roberts, in his Letters to Volney , accepts it 
as a truth that the emblems in the stars refer 
to the primeval promise of the Messiah and 
His work of conquering the Serpent through 
His sufferings, and traces out some of the 
particular instances. 

Dupuis, in L Origine des Cu/tus, has col¬ 
lected a vast number of traditions prevalent 
in all nations of a divine person, born of a 
woman, suffering in conflict with a serpent, 
but triumphing over him at last, and finds the 


24 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

same reflected in the figures of the ancient 
constellations. 

Dr. Adam Clarke says of the ancient Egyp¬ 
tians that they held the stars to be symbols 
of sacred things. Lucian and Dupuis assert 
the same, and say that “ astronomy was the 
soul of the Egyptian religious system.” The 
same is equally true of the Chaldeans and 
Assyrians. 

Smith and Sayce, in The Chaldean Account 
of Genesis , say : “ It is evident, from the open¬ 
ing of the inscription on the first tablet of 
the great Chaldean work on astrology and as¬ 
tronomy, that the functions of the stars were, 
according to the Babylonians, to act not only 
as regulators of the seasons of the year, but 
also used as signs; for in those ages it was 
generally believed that the heavenly bodies 
gave, by their appearance and positions, signs 
of events which were coming on the earth .” 

The learned G. Stanley Faber admits the 
connection between the starry emblems and 
the myths and mysteries of the ancients. He 
thinks “ the forms of men and women, beasts 
and birds, monsters and reptiles, with which 
the whole face of heaven has been disguised, 
are not without their signification ,” and allows 
that the reference, in parts at least, is to the 


THE STARS AS SIGNS. 


25 


Seed of the woman, and His bruising of the 
Serpent. 

It is furthermore a matter of inspired New- 
Testament record that certain wise men from 
among the Gentile peoples not only looked 
to the stars as by some means made to refer 
to and represent a coming Saviour, even the 
Lord Jesus himself, but were so moved and 
persuaded by their observations of the stars, 
from what they saw there signified, that they 
set out under the guidance of those starry 
indications to find Him whom they thus per¬ 
ceived to have been born in Judea, in order 
that they might greet Him as their Lord and 
honor Him by their adoration and their gifts 
(Matt. 2:1-11). All that entered into this 
case we may not now be able to determine, 
but the fact remains that these wise men of 
the Gentiles did actually come to Jerusalem, 
\ and thence to Bethlehem, to find and worship 
the new-born Saviour, moved and led by as - 
trojiomic signs , which they never could have 
understood as they did if there had not been 
associated with the stars some definite evan¬ 
gelic prophecies and promises which they 
could read, and believed to be from God. 

And since these starry emblems are inva¬ 
riably connected with the most striking and 
3 


2 6 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


sublime appearances in the visible creation, 
seen in all climates, accompanying the out- 
wandering tribes of man in all their migra¬ 
tions, why should we not expect to find among 
the names and figures annexed to them some 
memorial of great and universal importance 
to the whole human race ? Certainly, if we 
could find connected with every constellation 
and each remarkable star some divine truth, 
some prophetic annunciation, some important 
revelation or fact, there would be opened to 
us a field of grand contemplations and of 
sublime memorializations which we may well 
suppose the infinite Mind of God would 
neither overlook nor leave unutilized. 

For my own part, having investigated the 
subject with such aids as have been within 
my reach, I am quite convinced, as much from 
the internal evidences as the external, that 
the learned authoress of Mazzaroth was cor¬ 
rect in saying that from the latent significance 
of the names and emblems of the ancient 
astronomy “ we may learn the all-important 
fact that God has spoken—that He gave to the 
earliest of mankind a revelation, equally im¬ 
portant to the latest, even of those very 
truths afterward written for our admonition 
on whom the ends of the world are come.” 


THE GLORY OF GOD. 


2 7 


Taken along with the myths and traditions 
which have been lodged among all the na¬ 
tions, I am quite sure that we have here a 
glorious record of primeval faith and hope, 
furnishing a sublime testimony to the antici¬ 
pations of the first believers, and at the same 
time an invincible attestation to the blessed 
Gospel on which our expectations of eternal 
life are built. Not to the being and attributes 
of an eternal Creator alone, but, above all, to 
the specific and peculiar work of our redemp¬ 
tion, and to Him in whom standeth our salva¬ 
tion, are these “lights in the firmament” the 
witnesses and “ signs.” 

The Glory of God. 

One of the sublimest of the Psalms, which 
celebrates the twofold world of Nature and 
Revelation, begins with the ever-memorable 
assertion, “ The heavens declare the glory of 
GodT What the heavens are thus said to 
declare certainly includes more than the ce¬ 
lestial bodies naturally tell concerning their 
Creator. Their showing forth of His “ handi¬ 
work,” His wisdom and power, is the subject 
of a separate and distinct part of the grand 
sentence. 

The chief “glory of God” cannot be learn- 


28 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


fed from Nature alone, simply as Nature. The 
moral attributes of Deity, and His manifesta¬ 
tions in moral government, are pre-eminently 
His glory. In the sending, incarnation, per¬ 
son, revelations, offices, and achievements of 
Jesus Christ, above all, has God shown forth 
His glory. We are told in so many words 
that Christ is “ the image and glory of God 
nay, “ the brightness—the very outbeaming— 
of His glory,” The glory of God is “ in the 
face of Jesus Christ.” There can therefore 
be no full and right declaring of “ the glory 
of God” which does not reach and embrace 
Christ, and the story of redemption through 
Him. But the starry worlds, simply as such, 
do not and cannot declare or show forth 
Christ as the Redeemer, or the glory of God 
in Him. If they do it at all, they must do it 
as “ signs,” arbitrarily used for that purpose. 
Yet the Psalmist affirms that these heavens 
do “ declare the glory of God.” Are we not 
therefore to infer that the story of Christ 
and redemption is somehow expressed by 
the stars ? David may or may not have so 
understood it, but the Holy Ghost, speaking 
through him, knew the implication of the 
words, which, in such a case, must not be 
stinted, but accepted in the fullest sense they 


THE GOSPEL STORY. 29 

will bear. And as it is certain that God 
meant and ordained a use of the heavenly 
bodies in which they should “be for signs” 
and as we are here assured that what they 
have been arranged to signify is “ the glory 
of God” there would seem to be ample 
scriptural warrant for believing that, by spe¬ 
cial divine order and appointment, the illus¬ 
tration of God’s moral government, partic¬ 
ularly as embraced in the story of sin, and 
redemption by Jesus Christ, is to be found in 
the stars, according to some primordial and 
sacred system of astronomy. 

Thus, by way of the Bible itself, we reach 
the idea of the Gospel in. the Stars, which 
it is my purpose, with the help of God, to 
identify, illustrate, and prove. 

The Gospel Story. 

The Gospel is chiefly made up of the story 
of the Serpent and the Cross—the doctrine 
of the fall and depravity of man through the 
subtlety of “ the Dragon, that old Serpent, 
called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth 
the whole world,” and the recovery of fallen 
man through a still mightier One, who comes 
from heaven, assumes human nature, and by 
suffering, death, and exaltation to the right 


30 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

hand of supreme dominion, vanquishes the 
Dragon and becomes the Author of eternal 
salvation. The preaching of this is the 
preaching of the Gospel , and the earnest and 
hopeful belief of this is the belief of the 
Gospel, according to the Scriptures and all 
the accepted Creeds of the Church from the 
days of the apostles till now. 

The same was also known and believed 
from the earliest periods of human existence. 
The Bible is particular to tell us, in its very 
first chapters, of a subtle and evil spirit, 
contemplated and named as “ the Serpent,” 
through whose agency Eve was beguiled, and 
the human race, -then consisting of but two 
persons, brought into sin, condemnation and 
death. It is equally particular to tell us in the 
same chapter that while Adam was yet in Par¬ 
adise, though guilty and about to be driven out 
into an adverse world, the Lord pronounced 
a sentence on the Serpent, in which He gave 
forth the comprehensive primordial Gospel 
promise, with all the fundamental elements 
of the true and only evangelic faith: “ And 
the Lord said unto the serpent , Because thou 
hast done this , thou art cursed. . . . And I will 
put enmity between thee and the woman , and 
between her Seed and thy seed; it (Lie) shall 


THE GOSPEL STORY. 


31 


bruise thy head , and thou shalt bruise His heel ” 
(Gen. 3 : 14, 15). 

From the most sacred and authoritative of 
records we thus find the original of all le¬ 
gends and myths of the Serpent and his De¬ 
stroyer, of the conflict with the Dragon, and 
the ultimate slaying of him by that mighty 
One to be born of woman; who would have 
to toil and suffer indeed, but would not give 
over till His victory should be complete. In 
that one pregnant text we identify the Ser¬ 
pent and the Cross—the Prince of Evil and 
the Prince of Peace—the Dragon-Deceiver 
and the suffering Redeemer—the deadly ma¬ 
lignity of the one and the self-sacrificing be¬ 
neficence of the other—an irreconcilable feud 
between them, with a promised crushing out 
of the Destroyer by the wounded Saviour. 
In other words, we thus, from the very begin¬ 
ning of human history, come upon and iden¬ 
tify the one great mas ter-theme of both Tes¬ 
taments, the chief substance of all prophecy 
and promise, and the sum of all evangelic 
preaching, faith, and hope, from the founda¬ 
tion of the world. And what I propose to 
show in this series of Lectures is, that this 
very story, in all its length and breadth, 
stands written upon the stars, put there in 


32 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

the original framing of astronomy as an ever¬ 
lasting witness of God’s gracious purposes 
toward our race, and that the heavens do 
verily declare the highest glory of God. 

How the Stars are Made to Speak. 

To those who have never looked into the 
science of astronomy, its truths, predictions, 
and revelations necessarily appear very mys¬ 
terious and surprising. Looking out upon 
the multitude of stars that shine in the noc¬ 
turnal heavens, they seem to be so scattered, 
so entirely without order, so confusedly spread 
over the face of the sky, that the untutored 
mind may well despair of reading anything 
intelligible there. And when, by the aid of 
the telescope, thousands are multiplied to mil¬ 
lions, and suns, systems, and universes rise to 
view, and the eye sweeps outward to distances 
which no figures of our arithmetic can express, 
and into unfathomable gulfs of space all filled 
up with an endless profusion of innumerable 
worlds, any understanding of them, especially 
the deciphering of great evangelic truths from 
them, would seem to be the height of impos¬ 
sibility. And if now, for the first time, man 
had to grapple with the problem, with nothing 
going before to assist him, vain indeed would 


STAR-GROUPS. 


33 


be our poor short-lived efforts to master such 
a tremendous field. 

But we have not now for the first time, or 
with only our weak and unaided powers, to 
make the commencement of this study. Men 
who lived almost a thousand years—men with 
powers of vision that lasted undimmed through 
nearly a decade of centuries—men with minds 
in much closer communion than ours with the 
infinite and eternal Intelligence — have em¬ 
ployed themselves, helped as they were by 
the great Maker’s Spirit, in observing, classi¬ 
fying, grouping, and designating these starry 
worlds, assigning them their names, marking 
their courses, and making them the bearers 
of wisdom the dearest and most precious ever 
made known to man. In their hands and to 
their peering scrutiny this wilderness of stellar 
glories took order, shape, and readable mean¬ 
ing which the depravities of the after ages 
have not been able to set aside, and which, 
by the scientific enlightenment of our times, 
we may retrace, and bring our minds into 
communion with their own. 

Star-Groups. 

Any one attentively observing the starry 
heavens will see that some of the stars arc 


34 the gospel in the stars. 

brighter than others, “ for one star differeth 
from another star in glory.” Some hold their 
places from age to age with variations so 
slight as scarcely to be observable in thou¬ 
sands of years. Some of them are “ wander¬ 
ing stars,” changing places continually, going 
and returning at fixed intervals. Some of 
them are nestled together in particular groups, 
or stand alone in their special glories so as to 
be easily distinguished. By means of these 
facts maps of the heavens can be made as 
well as maps of the earth; and by the long 
and careful observation and study of them it 
has come to be known how these heavenly 
configurations stood and will stand at any 
particular period of time. 

The starry heavens, therefore, are not mere 
unmeaning and incomprehensible show—not 
a boundless and trackless wilderness of lu¬ 
minous orbs. There are paths which we can 
thread, sometimes dark and rugged, and often 
leading into depths through which it is hard 
to follow them, but still not untraceable. As 
men can find a way through the most intricate 
musical composition, through a great poem, 
through a sublime oration, and through the 
plans and ideas of the most complicated spe¬ 
cimen of mechanism or architecture, so may 


STAR-GROUPS. 


35 


we find our way through the starry heavens, 
and mostly tell where we are, what we are 
contemplating, what relation part bears to part, 
and read from these glorious luminaries as we 
would read from the face of a clock or from 
the placements of the letters of the alphabet. 
And as most of these star-groups retain al¬ 
most precisely the same places and relations 
for thousands on thousands of years, if any one 
cognizant of the facts, and setting himself for 
the first time to describe them, had wished to 
record certain great ideas for unchanged per¬ 
petuation to the most distant ages, among all 
the objects of Nature he could have selected 
none so appropriate to his purpose or so per¬ 
manently enduring as these stellar groups and 
configurations. Naming them, and connect¬ 
ing them with certain symbols of the ideas he 
wished to convey, and transmitting and ex¬ 
plaining to his posterity those names and fig¬ 
ures thus conjoined with the stars, he would 
link with his astronomy a whole system of 
thoughts and hopes as clear as the stars them¬ 
selves, and utterly imperishable as long as 
that astronomy should remain in the know¬ 
ledge of men. 

And this, as I hope to make manifest, is 
exactly what has been done. 


36 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


Figures of the Star-Groups. 

Somewhere in the earliest ages of human 
existence the stars were named and arranged 
into groups by some one thoroughly familiar 
with the great facts of astronomy. Those 
names and groupings were at the same time 
included in certain figures , natural or imagi¬ 
nary, but intensely symbolic and significant. 
These names and figures have thence been 
perpetuated in all the astronomic records of 
all the ages and nations since. They are 
founded on indisputable astronomic truth, and 
hence form the groundwork of all maps and 
designations of the celestial presentations. 
They are in all the planispheres, celestial 
globes, and star-charts among all people, from 
one end of the earth to the other. Astrono¬ 
mers growl at them, consider them arbitrary 
and unnatural, and sometimes denounce them 
as cumbrous, puerile, and confusing, but have 
never been able to brush them off, or to substi¬ 
tute anything better or more convenient in their 
place. They are part of the common and uni¬ 
versal language of astronomical science. They 
have place and representation in all the alma¬ 
nacs of all enlightened peoples. They are in all 
the books and records devoted to descriptions 


FIGURES OF THE STAR-GROUPS. 3 7 

of the heavens. Faith and skepticism, piety 
and irreligion, alike adopt and use them. 
Revelation and pagan superstition both recog¬ 
nize them. Heathen, Mohammedans, and Chris¬ 
tians, the oldest with the latest, disagreeing 
in so many things, yet agree in adopting and 
honoring these primitive notations of the 
stars. Even those who have the most fault 
to find with them still employ them, and can¬ 
not get on without them. And in and from 
these the showing is, that all the great doc¬ 
trines of the Christian faith were known, be¬ 
lieved, cherished, and recorded from the ear¬ 
liest generations of our race, proving that 
God has spoken to man, and verily given 
him a revelation of truths and hopes precise¬ 
ly as written in our Scriptures, and so fondly 
cherished by all Christian believers. 

The announcement may sound strange, and 
the undertaking to trace it may be deemed 
adventurous and fanciful; but if those who 
hear me will go with me into the investiga¬ 
tion, and look at and weigh the facts, I am 
sure that we shall come out of the study all 
the more satisfied with the certainty of our 
Christian hopes, and all the more filled with 
admiration of the goodness and wisdom of 
the eternal Creator of all things. 

4 


33 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


I ask no preliminary scientific knowledge 
of astronomy in order to follow what I have 
to say, as that will not be needed. If a star- 
map, celestial chart, or globe of the heavens 
were consulted to familiarize the mind with 
the figures denoting the principal constella¬ 
tions, it would aid in appreciating the discus¬ 
sion ; but if my hearers will favor me with 
their attention, and follow me with their sym¬ 
pathetic and earnest interest, it will be enough 
to secure a reasonable impression of the sub¬ 
ject, and to enable them to see and judge of 
these star-pictures, whether they do not grand¬ 
ly set forth great religious truths, past, pres¬ 
ent, and to come.* 

* Such a chart or map of the heavens, giving the original forty- 
eight figures, and their relative locations and principal stars, has been 
prepared to accompany this work; but it may prove more satisfactory 
to consult the usual charts or planispheres prepared for astronomic 
studies. In the absence of facilities for consulting the common appa¬ 
ratus for learning astronomy, the reader will be much helped by re¬ 
ferring carefully to the chart here given as allusion is made to the 
particular constellations in the course of the discussion. 


Uccture Secontr. 


THE SACRED CONSTELLATIONS. 

Job 26 : 13 : “ By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His 
hand hath formed the crooked Serpent.” . 

T HE Gospel story, as written on the stars, 
like much of the sacred Scriptures, is 
pictorial . The record is accompanied with 

important explanatory materials, but the chief 
substance is given in pictures. 

The Constellations. 

Every atlas of the heavens is filled up with 
figures and outlines of men, women, animals, 
monsters, and other objects, each including a 
certain set of stars. These stars, as thus des¬ 
ignated and embraced, constitute so many 
separate clusters or groups called the Con¬ 
stellations, and these asterisms or constella¬ 
tions cover all the principal stars visible to 
the naked eye. 

In the primeval astronomy the number of 
these figures or star-groups was forty-eight. 
In imitation of them, dozens more have been 

39 


40 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

added, mostly by modern philosophers. Among 
these additions are the Sextant, the Giraffe, 
the Fox and Goose, the Horned Horse, the 
Fly, the Greyhounds, the Lynx, the Bird of 
Paradise, Noah’s Dove, the Clock, the Sculp¬ 
tor’s Workshop, the Painter’s Easel, the Air- 
Pump, Sobieski’s Shield, the Brandenburg 
Sceptre, and such like; .which may serve to 
designate the groups of inferior stars to which 
they have been assigned, but which are other¬ 
wise totally meaningless, and utterly unworthy 
of the associations into which they have been 
thrust. Having no connection whatever with 
the primitive constellations, except as poor and 
impertinent imitations, they must of course 
be thrown out and cast quite aside from the 
inquiry now in hand. They are no part of 
the original writing upon the stars, as pro¬ 
posed for our present reading. 

The primary and chief series of the old 
forty-eight constellations is formed on the 
line which the Sun seems to mark in the prog¬ 
ress of the year, called the Ecliptic . That 
line is really the path of the earth around the 
Sun, in the course of which the Sun seems to 
move thirty degrees every month, and at the 
end of the twelfth month appears again where 
it started at the beginning of the first month. 


THE ZODIAC. 


41 


The moon and planets follow apparently much 
the same path, and are always seen within 
eight or nine degrees of the line of the Sun’s 
course. We thus have a Nature-indicated 
belt, about sixteen degrees wide, extending 
around the entire circuit of the heavens, half 
the year north and half the year south of the 
equator of the earth extended into the sky. 

The Zodiac. 

Whilst the sun is thus making its annual 
course from west to east through the centre 
of this belt or zone, the moon makes twelve 
complete revolutions around the earth, sug¬ 
gesting the division of this belt into twelve 
parts, or sections, of thirty degrees each; for 
twelve times thirty degrees complete the cir¬ 
cle. We thus note twelve equal steps or 
stages in the Sun’s path as it makes its an¬ 
nual circuit through the heavens. And this 
belt or zone, with these twelve moons or 
months for its steps or stages, is called the 
Zodiac , from the primitive root zoad, a walk, 
way, or going by steps, like Jacob’s ladder. 

The Twelve Signs. 

So, again, each of these steps, stages, or 
sections includes a certain number of fixed 


4 * 


42 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

stars, making up a group or constellation, 
which has its own particular figure, picture, 
or “ sign ” to designate it, and after which it 
is called. Hence the Twelve Signs of the 
Zodiac , which are given in all the regular al¬ 
manacs, and to which people have generally 
had much regard in timing their industries 
and undertakings. These signs are: 

I. Virgo, the Virgin : the figure of a young 
woman lying prostrate, with an ear of wheat 
in one hand and a branch in the other. 

II. Libra, the Scales: the figure of a pair 
of balances, with one end of the beam up and 
the other down, as in the act of weighing. In 
some of the old planispheres a hand, or a wo¬ 
man, appears holding the scales. 

III. Scorpio, the Scorpion: the figure of a 
gigantic, noxious, and deadly insect, with its 
tail and sting uplifted in anger, as if striking. 

IV. Sagittarius, the Bowman: the figure 
of a horse with the body, arms, and head of a 
man—a centaur—with a drawn bow and ar¬ 
row pointed at the Scorpion. 

V. Capricornus, the Goat: the figure of a 
goat sinking down as in death, with the hinder 
part of its body terminating in the vigorous 
tail of a fish. 

VI. Aquarius, the Waterman: the figure 


THE TWELVE SIGNS. 


43 


of a man with a large urn, the contents of 
which he is in the act of pouring out in a 
great stream from the sky. 

VII. Pisces, the Fishes: the figures of two 
large fishes in the act of swimming, one to 
the northward, the other with the ecliptic. 

VIII. Aries, the Ram, by some nations 
called the Lamb : the figure of a strong sheep, 
with powerful curved horns, lying down in 
easy composure, and looking out in conscious 
strength over the field around it. 

IX. Taurus, the Bull: the figure of the 
shoulders, neck, head, horns, and front feet 
of a powerful bull, in the attitude of rushing 
and pushing forward with great energy. 

X. Gemini, the Twins, or a man and woman 
sometimes called Adam and Eve: usually, 
two human figures closely united, and seated 
together in endeared affection. In some of 
the older representations the figure of this 
constellation consists of two goats, or kids. 

XI. Cancer, the Crab : the figure of a crab, 
in the act of taking and holding on with its 
strong pincer claws. In Egyptian astronomy 
the scarabseus beetle, grasping and holding 
on to the ball in which its eggs are deposited, 
takes the place of the crab. 

XII. Leo, the Lion: the figure of a great 


44 the gospel in the stars. 

rampant lion, leaping forth to rend, with his 
feet over the writhing body of Hydra, the 
Serpent, which is in the act of fleeing. 

These twelve cardinal signs cover a large 
part of the visible heavens, and extend en¬ 
tirely around the earth, making and marking 
the Solar Zodiac. 

The Mansions of the Moon. 

But ancient astronomy gives a further sub¬ 
division of these twelve signs into twenty- 
eight, called the Mansions of the Moon , or the 
Lunar Zodiac. The moon makes its revolu¬ 
tion around the earth in about twenty-eight 
days, and so suggests the division of its course 
through the heavens into twenty-eight sec¬ 
tions, or steps, one for each day. Two and a 
third of these sections or Mansions are em¬ 
braced in each sign of the Solar Zodiac, and 
each mansion is marked with its own partic¬ 
ular name and smaller group of stars. Some 
Oriental nations also had particular and sepa¬ 
rate sets of figures for the designation of these 
Lunar Mansions, though not uniformly the 
same. It is rather from the names of these 
Mansions, and of the stars in them, than from 
the figures connected with them, that the sig¬ 
nifications are to be learned, the main theme 


THE BE CANS. 


45 


being most commandingly given in the twelve 
cardinal signs of which they are parts. 

The Thirty-six Decans. 

But these twelve great signs do not stand 
alone. Each one of them has conjoined with 
it, either on the north or south side of the Zo¬ 
diacal belt, three other conspicuous constella¬ 
tions, called Decans , from the Shemitic dek, a 
“part” or “piece.” 

Albumazer—sometimes called Abu Masher 
—a great Arab physician and astronomer who 
lived about a thousand years ago, and whose 
minute and learned writings on the subject 
have been commented on by Aben Ezra as 
of the highest authority, refers to “ the Decans 
and their houses according to the Persians, 
Babylonians, and Egyptians,” and says: “ Here 
follow the Decans, which the Arabs in their 
language call faces. They are three to each 
sign of the Way.” He says that the Indians 
also had these Decans to each sign. And 
Aben Ezra says : “ According to Albumazer, 
none of these forms from their first invention 
have varied in coming down to us, nor one of 
their words [names] changed, not a point 
added or removed.” Southey (in The Doctor , 
vol. iii. p. 115) remarks that “ in Egypt every 


46 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

month was supposed to be under the care of 
three Decans , or directors, for the import 
of the word must be found in the neighbor¬ 
ing language of the Hebrews and Syrians.* 
There were thirty-six of these, each superin¬ 
tending ten days; and these Decans were be¬ 
lieved to exercise the most extensive influ¬ 
ence. Astrological squares calculated upon 
this mythology are still in existence.” These 
Decans can, for the most part, be distin¬ 
guished by the fact that those belonging to 
any one particular sign come upon the merid¬ 
ian, or close along the meridian-line, at the 
same time with the sign to which they belong. 
Originally, they perhaps were all on the me¬ 
ridian along with the signs to which they per¬ 
tain. 

Albumazer’s enumeration of them is fully 
credited by the Jewish Aben Ezra, himself a 
learned astronomer, Orientalist, and scholar, 
who wrote a commentary on Albumazer’s 
work. And after the closest scrutiny, those 
who have most thoroughly examined and mas¬ 
tered the subject in its various relations entire- 

* This word is evidently from the Noetic or Shemitic Decah, to break. 
Hence Decan , a “ piece,” a “ division.” Thus we have dek in Dan. 
2:45, to denote a fragment or piece. And thus we still have in 
English the word deck , to denote a part of a ship —the face of a ship, 
as the Arabs also called these Decans faces. 


THE BE CANS. 


47 


ly agree with the same enumeration, which I 
therefore accept and adopt for the present 
inquiries into this starry lore, sure that the 
particular examination of each sign, with the 
Decans thus assigned to it, will furnish ample 
internal proof that this enumeration is cor¬ 
rect according to the original intention. 

I. The Decans of Virgo. 

1. Coma , the Infant, the Branch, the De¬ 
sired One (erroneously, Berenice's Hair) ; 

2. Centaurus , a centaur, with dart piercing 
a victim ; 

3. Bootes , or Arcturus, the great Shepherd 
and Harvester, holding a rod and sickle, and 
walking forth before his flocks (erroneously 
called Bears). 

II. The Decans of Libra. 

1. The Cross , over which Centaur is ad¬ 
vancing, called the Southern Cross; 

2. Victim of Centaur , slain, pierced to death ; 

3. The Crown , which the Serpent aims to 
take, called the Northern Crown. 

III. The Decans of Scorpio. 

1. The Serpent , struggling with Ophiuchus; 

2. Ophiuchus , wrestling with the Serpent, 


48 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

stung in one heel by the Scorpion, and crush- 
ing it with the other; 

3. Hercules , wounded in his heel, the other 
foot over the Dragon’s head, holding in one 
hand the Golden Apples and the three-headed 
Dog of hell, and in the other the uplifted club. 

IV. The Decans of Sagittarius. 

1. Lyra, an Eagle holding the Lyre, as in 
triumphant gladness; 

2. Ara , the Altar, with consuming fires, 
burning downward; 

3. Draco , the Dragon, the old Serpent, 
winding himself about the Pole in horrid links 
and contortions. 

V. The Decans of Capricornus. 

1. Sagitta , the Arrow, or killing dart sent 
forth, the naked shaft of death; 

2. Aquila , the Eagle, pierced and falling; 

3. Delphinus , the Dolphin, springing up, 
raised out of the sea. 

VI. The Decans of Aquarius. 

1. The Southern Fish , drinking in the stream; 

2. Pegasus , a white horse, winged and speed¬ 
ing, as with good tidings ; 

3. Cygnus, the Swan on the wing, going 
and returning, bearing the sign of the cross. 


THE DECANS. 


49 


VII. The Decans of Pisces. 

1. The Band , holding up the Fishes, and 
held by the Lamb, its doubled end fast to the 
neck of Cetus, the Sea-Monster; 

2. Cepheus , a crowned king, holding a band 
and sceptre, with his foot planted on the pole- 
star as the great Victor and Lord ; 

3. Andromeda, a woman in chains, and 
threatened by the serpents of Medusa’s head. 

VIII. The Decans of Aries. 

1. Cassiopeia , the woman enthroned; 

2. Cetus , the Sea-Monster, closely and 
strongly bound by the Lamb; 

3. Perseus , an armed and mighty man with 
winged feet, who is carrying away in triumph 
the cut-off head of a monster full of writhing 
serpents, and holding aloft a great sword in 
his right hand. 

IX. The Decans of Taurus. 

1. Orion , a glorious Prince, with a sword 
girded on his side, and his foot on the head 
of the Hare or Serpent ; 

2. Eridanus , the tortuous River, accounted 
as belonging to Orion ; 

3. Auriga , the Wagoner, rather the Shep- 

5 d 


50 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

herd, carrying a she-goat and two little goats 
on his left arm, and holding cords or bands 
in his right hand. 

X. The Decans of Gemini. 

1. Lepus , the Hare, in some nations a ser¬ 
pent, the mad enemy under Orion’s feet ; 

2. Canis Major, Sirius, the Great Dog, the 
Prince coming; 

3. Canis Minor ; Procyon , the Second Dog, 
following after Sirius and Orion. 

XI. The Decans of Cancer. 

1. Ursa Minor, anciently the Lesser Sheep- 
fold, close to and including the Pole ; 

2. Ursa Major, anciently the Greater Sheep- 
fold, in connection with Arcturus, the guardian 
and keeper of the flock ; 

3. Argo, the Ship, the company of trav¬ 
ellers under the bright Canopus, their Prince, 
the Argonauts returned with the Golden 
Fleece. 


XII. The Decans of Leo. 

1. Hydra, the fleeing Serpent, trodden un¬ 
der foot by the Crab and Lion ; 

2. Crater, the Cup or Bowl of Wrath on 
the Serpent; 


THE PLANE TS. 5 I 

3. Corvus , the Raven or Crow, the bird of 
doom, tearing the Serpent. 

This ends up the main story. And the 
mere naming of these significant pictures 
casts a light over the intelligent Christian 
mind, which makes it feel at once that it is 
in the midst of the most precious symbols 
and ideas connected with our faith, as they 
are everywhere set out in the Holy Scrip¬ 
tures. 


The Planets. 

A further and very conspicuous marking 
among the heavenly bodies appears in the 
difference between the fixed stars and those 
more brilliant orbs which are continually 
changing their places. In reality, none of the 
stars are absolutely fixed. Nearly all of them 
have been observed to be in motion, shifting 
their relative places, but moving so very 
slowly that the changes are quite impercep¬ 
tible except when hundreds of years are 
taken into the observation. But it is very 
different with some four, five, or more of the 
most brilliant of the heavenly luminaries. 
Though seeming to go around the earth like 
all the other stars, their behavior is eccentric, 
and their periods and motions are uneven. 


52 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Two of them make their rounds in less than 
a year, and three others take two, twelve, and 
thirty years. They do not keep at the same 
distances from each other, nor their places 
among the more fixed stars. They are called 
Planets , or Wanderers. The names of these 
five old planets, as known to our astronomy, 
are, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Sat¬ 
urn. There are other planets, but they are 
not recognizable to the naked eye. And to 
these five wanderers, hence called planets , 
the ancients added the Sun and Moon, mak¬ 
ing the seven most renowned of all the celes¬ 
tial bodies. The path of each of them lies 
within the limits of the Zodiacal belt or zone; 
and the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac them¬ 
selves were mostly regarded as the Twelve 
Mansions of these conspicuous travellers, 
which the old idolaters glorified as the seven 
great gods. 

The Constellations Divine. 

In these several markings, groupings, and 
designations of the heavenly hosts we have 
all the most conspicuous elements and nota¬ 
tions of the primeval astronomy. And these 
pre-eminently are what the text refers to as 
the garnish of the heavens, of which “the 


THE CONSTELLATIONS DIVINE. 53 

crooked,” or rather “ fleeing , Serpent ” is here 
named as a specific part. 

There are but three things with which to 
identify this “ fleeing Serpent.” It has been 
justly said, “ It is not likely that this inspired 
writer should in an instant descend from the 
garnishing of the heavens to the formation 
of a reptile.” The discourse is of the starry 
heavens, and “ the Serpent ” must necessarily 
pertain to the heavens. Barnes says: “There 
can be no doubt that Job refers here to the 
constellations,” and that “ the sense in the pas¬ 
sage is, that the greatness and glory of God 
are seen by forming the beautiful and glorious 
constellations that adorn the sky.” But if the 
reference is to a sky-serpent, it must be either 
the Zodiac itself, often painted on the ancient 
spheres in the form of a serpent bent into a 
circle, with its tail in its mouth, or to Draco , 
or to Hydra , which is the longest figure in 
the sky, stretching through an entire night, 
and trailing along as if in flight from the point 
of the Scales, beneath the Virgin and the Lion, 
to the point where the feet of the Crab and 
the Lion press down its snaky head. All 
things duly considered, I take it as referring 
to Hydra , just as Leviathan (in Job 41 : i) 
refers to Cetus , the Sea-monster. The Drag- 


54 the gospel in the stars. 

on does not so well answer to the description 
of “ the fleeing Serpent ,” nor yet the sphere in 
the figure of a serpent. Hydra is in every 
respect “ the fleeing Serpent as distinguished 
from all other astronomic serpents. It does 
nothing but flee. It flees from the triumph¬ 
ing Lion, with the Bowl of Wrath on it and 
the bird of doom tearing it, whilst the holders 
of the precious possession trample its head 
beneath their feet. But, in either case, there 
is here a distinct recognition of the constella¬ 
tions and their figures, and the same noted as 
the particular garnishing of the heavens to 
which we are referred to see and read the 
transcendent glory of Jehovah. 

Who Job was we do not precisely know. 
That he lived before the Hebrew Exodus, be¬ 
fore the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
and hence before Abraham, is evidenced from 
the character, style, contents, and non-con¬ 
tents of his sublime book, which is at once the 
oldest, broadest, most original, most scientific 
in all the Bible. From repeated astronomical 
allusions contained in this book, with which 
uninformed translators have had much trouble 
and done some very unworthy work, different 
mathematicians have calculated that Job lived 
and wrote somewhere about twenty-one hun- 


THE CONSTELLATIONS DIVINE. 55 

dred and fifty years before Christ, which car¬ 
ries us back more than one thousand years 
before Homer and the Greeks, and a millen¬ 
nium and a half before Thales, the first of the 
Greek philosophers. And yet, already in the 
time of Job the heavens were astronomically 
laid out and arranged in the manner just de¬ 
scribed, with the Zodiac formed, the constella¬ 
tions named, the figures of them drawn and 
recorded, and the same accepted and cele¬ 
brated by God’s people as the particular 
adornment of the sky in which to read the 
Almighty’s glory. 

Very significant also is this word, “ garnish¬ 
ed ,” here employed by our translators. Its 
main sense is that of ornament, decoration, 
something added for embellishment; but it has 
the further meaning of summons and warning. 
And by these adornings God hath summoned 
the heavens and filled them with proclama¬ 
tions and warnings of His great purposes. 
Perhaps it would be hard to find another 
word to fit so truly to the facts or to the 
original for which it stands. It falls in pre¬ 
cisely with the whole idea of the celestial 
luminaries being used “for signs,” of the 
Gospel being written in the stars, and of the 
adornment and beaming of the heavens with 


56 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

this brightness of all sacred brightnesses. 
And when we come to the direct analysis of 
these frescoes on the sky, as I propose in my 
next Lecture, we will find the diction of the 
Bible from end to end most thoroughly con¬ 
formed to these beautiful constellations. 

But more remarkable and important is the 
positive testimony here given to the divine 
origin of these embellishments and significant 
frescoes. All interpreters agree that the text 
refers to the heavenly constellations. This 
is made the more certain by the designation 
of the Serpent in the second part of the par¬ 
allelism. That “fleeing Serpent” must mean 
either Draco , the Zodiac, or Hydra. And the 
affirmation is clear and pointed that the thing 
referred to is divine in its formation. Of the 
Almighty and His wisdom and power Job is 
speaking ; and of that Almighty it is declared, 
“ By His Spirit He hath garnished the heav¬ 
ens,” and “ His hand formed the fleeing Ser¬ 
pent.” If the frescoing of the sky with the 
constellations is meant, then He caused it to 
be done “by His Spirit ”—by impulse and in¬ 
spiration from His own almightiness. If the 
Zodiac is meant, then His own hand bent and 
formed it. And if the constellation of the 
Dragon, or Hydra ,, is meant, then He himself 


THE CONSTELLATIONS DIVINE. 

is the Author of it, and, by implication, the 
Author of the whole system of the constella¬ 
tions of which Draco , or Hydra , is a part. 
We may wonder and stand amazed and con¬ 
founded at the assertion; but here, from the 
Book of God, is the unalterable voucher for 
it, that these astronomic figures, in their orig¬ 
inal integrity and meaning, are from God , and 
as truly inspired as the Bible itself. And 
many are the facts which combine to prove 
that such is verily the truth. 

Who, of all the sons of men, can point out 
any other origin of these remarkable denota¬ 
tions of the starry heavens ? Who can tell 
us when, where, or by whom else the Zodiac 
was invented, its signs determined, and the 
attendant constellations fixed? Historical as¬ 
tronomy is totally at a loss to give us any 
other information on the subject. Here is 
the Solar Zoad, with its twelve signs and their 
thirty-six Decans; here is the Lunar Zoad, 
with its twenty-eight Mansions, each with its 
own particular stars, and each with its very 
expressive name.; and here are the noted 
seven Chiefs, playing a part in the traditions, 
sciences, theologies, and superstitions of earth, 
as brilliant as their splendid display on the 
face of the sky; but whence and how they 


58 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

were framed into these systems or came to 
place so conspicuous, acceptation so uni¬ 
versal, and life so commanding and imperish¬ 
able, even the science which handles them 
most is quite unable to explain. As seven 
cities claimed to be the birthplace of Homer, 
who most likely was born in neither, so men 
in their uncertainty have referred to names 
and widely different countries, times, and ages 
for the source and authorship of the primeval 
astronomy, with about equal reason for each, 
and no solid reason for either. The world 
has looked in vain for the origin of these in¬ 
ventions on this side of the Flood, or any¬ 
where short of those inspired patriarchs and 
prophets who illumined the first periods of 
the race with their superior wisdom and ex¬ 
alted piety. 

Age of the Constellations. 

One great and commanding fact in the case 
is that, as far back as we have any records 
of astronomy, these sidereal embellishments 
and notations existed and are included. We 
know from the Scriptures that they are older 
than any one of the books which make up the 
Christian and Jewish Bible. We have mon¬ 
umental evidence in the Great Pyramid of 


AGE OF THE CONSTELLATIONS. S 9 

Gizeh that they were known and noted when 
that mighty science-structure was built, twenty- 
one hundred and seventy years before the 
birth of Christ and a thousand years before 
Homer, who also refers to them. The learn¬ 
ed Dr. Seyffarth, than whom there is not a 
more competent witness living, affirms that 
we have the most conclusive proofs that our 
Zodiac goes back among the Romans as far 
as seven hundred and fifty-two years before 
Christ, among the Greeks seven hundred and 
seventy-eight years before Christ, among the 
Egyptians twenty-seven hundred and eighty- 
one years before Christ, and among the Ori¬ 
ental peoples as far as thirty-four hundred 
and forty-seven years before Christ—even to 
within the lifetime of Adam himself. Riccioli 
affirms that it appears from the Arab astron¬ 
omy that it is as old as Adam’s time, and that 
the names preserved by it are antediluvian. 
Bailly and others have given it as their con¬ 
clusion that astronomy must have had its be¬ 
ginning when the summer solstice was in the 
first degree of Virgo, and that the Solar and 
Lunar Zodiacs are as old as that time, which 
could only be about four thousand years be¬ 
fore Christ. Professor Mitchell says: “We 
delight to honor the names of Kepler, Gali- 


60 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

leo, and Newton; but we must go beyond the 
epoch of the Deluge, and seek our first dis¬ 
coveries among those sages whom God per¬ 
mitted to count their age by centuries, and 
there learn the order in which the secrets of 
the starry world yielded themselves up.” 
According to Drummond, “ Origen tells us 
that it was asserted in the Book of Enoch 
(quoted by the apostle Jude) that in the time 
of that patriarch the constellations were al¬ 
ready named and divided.” Albumazer at¬ 
tributes the invention of both Zodiacs to 
Hermes ; and Hermes, according to the Arab 
and Egyptian authorities, was the patriarch 
Enoch. Josephus and the Jewish rabbis af¬ 
firm that the “ starry lore ” had its origin with 
the antediluvian patriarchs, Seth and Enoch. 

The Sabbatic Week and the Stars. 

It is generally claimed that the Sabbath, and 
the week of seven days which it marks, date 
back to the beginning of the race, to the insti¬ 
tution of God himself at the completion of the 
great creation-work. But that system of the 
seven days is essentially bound up with these 
selfsame astronomical notations. We find 
among all the ancient nations—Chaldeans, 
Persians, Hindoos, Chinese, and Egyptians— 


THE SABBATIC WEEK. 


6l 


that the seven days of the week were in uni¬ 
versal use ; and, what is far more remarkable, 
each of these nations named the days of the 
week, as we still do, after the seven planets, 
numbering the Sun and Moon among them. 
Hence we say Sun-day, Moon-day , Tuisco or 
Tuves'- day (Tuisco being the Anglo-Saxon 
name for Mars), Woden's -day (Woden being 
the same as Mercury), Thor's -day (Thor being 
the same as Jupiter), Friga -day (Friga or 
Freiya being the same as Venus), and lastly, 
Saturn- day, anciently the most sacred of the 
seven. The order is not that of the distance, 
velocity, or brilliancy of the orbs named, nei¬ 
ther does the first day of the week always co¬ 
incide among the different nations; but the 
succession, no matter with which of the days 
begun, is everywhere the same. It is impos¬ 
sible to suppose this mere accident or chance ; 
and the fact forces the conclusion that the de¬ 
vising and naming of the seven days of the 
week dates back to some primitive represen¬ 
tatives of the race, from whom the tradition 
has thus generally descended, and who at 
the same time knew and had regard to the 
seven planets as enumerated in the primeval 
astronomy. 


62 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


The Alphabet and the Stars. 

It is now mostly admitted that alphabetic 
writing is as old as the human family—that 
Adam knew how to write as well as we, and 
that he did write. There certainly were books 
or writings before the Flood, for the New 
Testament quotes from one of them, which it 
ascribes to Enoch, and Adam still lived more 
than three hundred years after Enoch was 
born. All the known primitive alphabets had 
the same number of letters, including seven 
vowels, and all began, as now, with A, B, C, 
and ended with S, T, U. But whilst we are 
using the alphabet every day in almost every¬ 
thing, how few have ever thought to remark 
why the letters appear in the one fixed order 
of succession, and why the vowels are so ir¬ 
regularly distributed among the consonants! 
Yet in the simple every-day a, b , c *s we have 
the evidence of the knowledge and actual rec¬ 
ord of the seven planets in connection with 
the Zodiac, dating back to the year 3447 be¬ 
fore Christ. If we refer the twenty-five let¬ 
ters of the primitive alphabet to the twelve 
signs of the Zodiac, placing the first two let¬ 
ters in Gemini as the first sign, and take the 
seven vowels in their places as representing 


THE ALPHABET AND THE STABS. 63 

the seven planets, a for the Moon ; e for Ve¬ 
nus, the two additional sounds of e* for the 
Sun and Mercury, i for Mars, o for Jupiter, 
and u for Saturn, as Sanchoniathon and vari¬ 
ous of the ancients say they are to be taken, 
the result is that we find the Moon in the first 
half of Gemini, Venus in the first half of Leo, 
the Sun in the latter half of Virgo, Mercury 
in the first half of Libra, Mars in the latter 
half of Scorpio, Jupiter in the latter half of 
Aquarius, and Saturn in the first half of Gem¬ 
ini ; which, according to Dr. Seyffarth, is an 
exact notation of the actual condition of the 
heavens at an ascertainable date, which can 
occur but once in many thousands of years, 
and that date is the seventh day of Septem¬ 
ber, 3447 before Christ! 

It would be very absurd to say that this 
was mere accident. But, if it was not acci¬ 
dent, it proves what the Arab and Jewish 
writers affirm, that the alphabet was in exist¬ 
ence before the Floo^l, and demonstrates that 
astronomy is coeval with the formation of the 
alphabet. 

Other facts, equally striking, but rather 
complex for ready popular statement, exist, to 
some of which we may have occasion to refer, 

* 2s and 2s, with place next to the Hebrew Cheth and the Latin k. 


64 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

all going to show and prove that the notations 
of the heavens so fully recorded in all antiquity 
do unmistakably date back beyond the Flood ; 
that they came into being by no long-forming 
induction of man; that the whole system ap¬ 
peared full and complete from the start, like 
Pallas from the brain of Jove; and that the 
only true answer to the question of its origin 
is the one given in the text, which unequivo¬ 
cally ascribes it to the inspiration of God, who 
by His Spirit garnished the heavens and with 
His own hand bent the traditional ring of their 
goings. 

It thus appears that in treating of these 
starry groupings and pictures we are dealing 
with something very different from the inven¬ 
tions of paganism and mythology—with some¬ 
thing as sacred in origin, as venerable in age, 
and as edifying in import as anything known 
to man. Corrupt religion and classic fable 
have interfered to obscure and pervert their 
meaning, and scientific self-will has crowded 
them with impertinent and unmeaning addi¬ 
tions ; but, in reality, they constitute the prim¬ 
eval Bible—a divine record of the true faith 
and hope of man, the oldest in human pos¬ 
session. With solemn and jealous venera¬ 
tion does it become us to regard them, and 


MORE THAN PAGANISM. 


65 


with devout earnestness to study them, that 
we may get from them what God meant they 
should be to His children upon the earth,— 
sure that what, by His Spirit, He caused to 
be written on the sky is of one piece with 
what, by the same Spirit, He has caused to 
be written in His Word. 

Field of glories! spacious field, 

And worthy of the Master: He whose hand 
With hieroglyphics, elder than the Nile, 

Inscribed the mystic tablet; hung on high 
To public gaze, and said. Adore, O man! 

The finger of thy God. 

6 * E 


Hecture OTjttfj. 


THE DESIRE OF NATIONS. 

Isa. 7 : 14 : “ Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and 
shall call his name Immanuel.” 


HE learned George Stanley Faber, rec- 



1 tor of Long-Newton, concedes to the 
showings of certain French skeptics what has 
often been noticed and remarked by the stu¬ 
dents of antiquity, that an extraordinary and 
very particular resemblance exists between 
the facts and doctrines of the Christian faith 
and the various theologies and mythologies 
of ancient paganism. 


The Ethnic Myths. 


Gathering up and combining in one view 
what appears in the various modifications of 
ancient heathenism, we find it taught and be¬ 
lieved, in one system or another, that eternal 
Godhead, or some direct emanation of eternal 
Godhead, was to become incarnate, to be born 
of a virgin mother, to spend his infancy and 
childhood among herds and flocks, whose life 


66 


AN INFIDEL ARGUMENT. 67 

should be sought by a huge serpent or dragon, 
which was even to slay him, but which he was 
destined to conquer and crush; that he came, 
or was to come, from heaven for the purpose 
of reforming and delivering mankind; that 
he was mild, contemplative, and good, but 
still the god of vengeance, with power to 
destroy his enemies; that he was a priest, a 
prophet, and a king, the sacrificer of himself, 
and the parent, husband, and son of the great 
Mother, denoted often by a floating ark; that 
he was the creator of worlds and aeons, previ¬ 
ous to which he moved on boundless waters ; 
that when slain he was entombed, descended 
into the hidden world, but rose to life again, 
ascended the top of a lofty mountain, and 
thence was translated to heaven. 

The likeness of these particulars to the 
scriptural teachings concerning Christ is ob¬ 
vious. How to account for them among 
heathen peoples who never possessed our 
Scriptures, and lived before our Scriptures 
were written, is a very interesting and im¬ 
portant question. 

An Infidel Argument. 

That the correspondence is not accidental 
must be admitted. Volney has attempted to 


68 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


draw an argument from it to prove that Christ 
never existed, and is only a mythic character, 
embodying the various old fancies afloat in 
the imaginations of mankind long before the 
time in which the Gospel records allege that 
He was born. The argument is, that, of the 
two presentations, one must necessarily be 
borrowed from the other; that the old myths 
could not be borrowed from Christianity, as 
they antedate the Christian times; and hence 
that Christianity must needs be borrowed 
from these old myths and traditions, which it 
has arrayed in a Jewish dress and palmed 
upon the world for the founding of a new re¬ 
ligious sect. 

But this alleged borrowing and accommo¬ 
dation is mere assumption, incapable of proof. 
Faber has shown that the antediluvian histo¬ 
ries, including particularly that of Noah, fur¬ 
nished so many types of Christian facts that 
from them alone could have been deduced 
many of the ideas in the ethnic theologies 
which so remarkably accord with the doc¬ 
trines of Christianity. Volney himself, and 
others of his school, with much labor and eru¬ 
dition have further shown that there is an as¬ 
tronomic record, dating back to the times of 
Noah and beyond, which really gives the 


AN INFIDEL ARGUMENT. 69 

story of the incarnation and history of Christ, 
just as Christianity attests. It accordingly 
devolves upon these men adequately to ac¬ 
count for that record before they can justly 
use it against Christianity. To account for 
Christianity by means of that record, which 
they rightfully claim to be universal, and yet 
to leave that record itself unaccounted for, is 
really a mere begging of the question. 

From the nature of the showings on the 
subject we claim that the substance of that 
record must needs have been a matter of di¬ 
vine revelation, a thing of inspiration, fixed 
in the earliest ages of the race. If we are 
right in this, it would fully account for all the 
old fables, notions, myths, and ideas so near 
akin to Christianity, and at the same time do 
away with all need, occasion, or right to infer 
that it must have been borrowed and accom¬ 
modated from them. Tracing this record back 
to the first ages, as these men do, and finding 
in it the story of the Serpent and the Cross 
as contained in the Gospel, we thus have a 
demonstration of the early existence of what 
the Bible gives as a divine promise and proph¬ 
ecy, and the same dating from the time to 
which the Bible assigns it. That story, thus 
embodied and set afloat from the beginning, 


yo THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

would necessarily descend with the multipli¬ 
cation and division of the race into all nations, 
and give rise and support to just such sacred 
myths and anticipations as we find confusedly 
given in the traditions and beliefs of all the 
ancient peoples. The strong presumption, 
therefore, the rather is, that Christianity, in¬ 
stead of having been borrowed and accommo¬ 
dated from those myths, was in contempla¬ 
tion in that which gave rise to them, and was 
the real spring of them, as it is the fulfilment 
and realization of them. 

The Intention Traceable. 

Of course this record has been much dis¬ 
torted, perverted, misused, and overlaid by 
the superstitions, apostasies, and idolatries of 
men ; but the showings of Bailly, Dupuis, Vol- 
ney, and more modern antiquarians are that 
it can still be traced, and its main features 
unmistakably identified. 

Some years ago I was in the great church 
of St. Sophia in Constantinople, built by the 
first Christian emperor, but now possessed 
by the Mohammedan Turks. Among the 
rest of its wonderful mosaics is a gigantic 
figure of the Saviour on the wall over the 
altar-place. That picture was of course very 


THE SIGN OF VIRGO. 


7 1 


distasteful to the followers of the false Proph¬ 
et of Arabia; but, not willing to spoil the 
glorious edifice by digging it out of the wall, 
they covered it over with whitewash and paint. 
Nevertheless, in spite of all attempted oblit¬ 
erations, the original picture still shone through 
the covering, and could be distinctly perceived 
and identified. And just so it is with these 
mosaics upon the stars. With all the obscu¬ 
rations which the ages of apostasy and hea¬ 
thenism have imposed upon them, they still 
shine through, to tell of the faith which put 
them there, and to declare that very glory of 
God which received its sublimest expression 
in the imperishable truths of our Gospel. 
Even astrology, Sabaism, the abominations 
of idolatry, and skepticism itself, have been 
overruled to preserve to us what God, by His 
Spirit, thus caused to be recorded on the face 
of the sky from the very beginning of the 
world. And to the analysis and interpreta¬ 
tion of this record we now come. 

The Sign of Virgo. 

I begin with Virgo, which I take to be the 
first sign in the Zodiac, according to its orig¬ 
inal intent and reading. The Zodiac of Esne 
begins with this sign. The story has no right 


72 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

starting-point, continuity, or end except as we 
commence with this constellation. I also have 
the statement from the best authorities that 
the custom was universal among the ancients 
to reckon from Virgo round to Leo . And in 
this sign of Virgo , if anywhere among the 
starry groups, we find the primary idea in the 
evangelic presentations. 

The foundation-doctrine of all religion— 
the existence of an eternal and almighty 
God, the Originator, Preserver, and great 
Father of all things—is assumed as belong¬ 
ing to the natural intuitions of a right man. 
The presence of the universe is the invincible 
demonstration of eternal power and Godhead, 
so that those are without excuse who fail to see 
that there is a God or do not glorify Him as 
God. Revelation is something superadded to 
Nature, which Nature itself cannot reach. As¬ 
suming the majesty of God and the sinfulness 
of man as things evident to natural reason 
and observation, its main subject is the way 
of salvation through Jesus Christ , the Gospel 
of the grace of God through His only-be¬ 
gotten Son. This is the one great theme of 
the Bible and of the primeval astronomy. 

As Christians, we believe in a virgin-born 
Saviour. We confess and hold that our Lord 


THE SIGN OF VIE GO. 


73 


Jesus Christ “was conceived by the Holy 
Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary.” So He 
was preannounced in the text, and so the 
evangelists testify of the facts concerning Him. 
To deny this is to deny the fundamental fea¬ 
tures of the whole Christian system and to 
disable the whole doctrine of human salva¬ 
tion. It stands in the front of all the Gospel 
presentations. It is the foundation and be¬ 
ginning of the whole structure on which our 
redemption hangs. 

It is therefore not a little striking that the 
very first sign which comes before us as we 
enter the grand gallery of the ancient con¬ 
stellations is the form and figure of a virgin. 
The initiative sign of the Zodiac is called Vir¬ 
go , the Virgin. All the traditions, names, 
and mytholgi.es connected with it recognize 
and emphasize the virginity of this woman. 
Astrea* and Athene of Greek story identify 

* Astrea was regarded as the star-bright, good, and just goddess, 
the last to leave the earth as the Golden Age faded out, and then 
took her place among the stars. The four ages of Gold, Silver, Brass, 
and Iron were the periods of time in which the equinoctial point suc¬ 
cessively passed through so many signs of the Zodiac, each sign re¬ 
quiring about twenty-one hundred and forty-six years to pass. If the 
summer solstice was in Virgo in the first or Golden Age, her with¬ 
drawal over that point as the equinoxes proceeded would have been 
very slow, and everything else characteristic of that age would have 
passed away before she passed. The myth would hence well fit to 
the astronomical facts. Since passing that point she has never re- 
7 


74 the gospel in the stars. 

with her. In Hebrew and Syriac she is Bethu- 
lah , the maiden. In Arabic she is Adarah , the 
pure virgin. In Greek she is Parthenos , the 
maid of virgin pureness. Nor is there any 
authority in the world for regarding her as 
anything but a virgin. 

The Virgin’s Son. 

But the greater wonder is, that motherhood 
attends this virginity, in the sign the same as 
in the text, and in the whole teaching of the 
Scriptures respecting the maternity of our 
Saviour. Krishna, the divine incarnation of 
the Hindoo mythology, was born of a virgin. 
A hundred years before Christ an altar was 
found in Gaul with this inscription: “To the 
virgin who is to bring forth .” And this maid¬ 
en in the sign is the holder and bringer of an 
illustrious Seed. In her hand is the spica , the 
ear of wheat, the best of seed, and that spica 
indicated by the brightest star in the whole 
constellation. He who was to bruise the Ser¬ 
pent’s head was to be peculiarly “the Seed 
of the woman,” involving virgin-motherhood, 
and hence one born of miracle, one begotten 
of divine power, the Son of God. And such 


turned to her former plaee, and cannot until about twenty-five thou¬ 
sand years from the time she left it. 


THE VIRGIN'S SON. 


7 5 


is the exhibit in this first sign of the Zodiac. 
She is a virgin, and yet she produces and 
holds forth a Seed contemplated as far great¬ 
er than herself. That seed of wheat Christ 
appropriates as a symbol of himself. When 
certain Greeks came to Philip wishing to see 
Jesus, He referred to himself as the corn, or 
seed, of wheat, which needed to fall and die 
in order to its proper fruitfulness (John 12: 
21—24). Thus, according to the starry sign, 
as according to the Gospel, out of the seed 
of wheat, the good seed of the Virgin, the 
blessed harvest of salvation comes. 

A very significant figure of Christ, much 
employed by the prophets, was the branch, 
bough, or sprout of a plant or root. Hence 
He is described as the Rod from the stem of 
Jesse and the Branch out of his roots (Isa. 11 : 
1), the Branch of Righteousness, the Branch 
of the Lord, God’s servant the Branch 
(Isa. 4:2; Jer. 23 : 5 ; Zech. 3:8; 6:12). 
And so this sign holds forth the Virgin’s Seed 
as The Branch. In addition to the spica in 
one hand, she bears a branch in the other. 
The ancient names of the stars in this con¬ 
stellation emphasize this showing, along with 
that of the Seed. A 1 Zimach, A 1 Azal, and 
Subilon mean the shoot, the branch, the ear 


76 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

of wheat. The language of the prophecies is 
thus identical with the symbols in this sign. 

It is a doctrine of our religion that without 
Christ, and the redemption wrought by Him, 
all humanity is fallen and helpless in sin. 
There is none other name given among men 
whereby we can be saved. Even Mary her¬ 
self needed the mediatorial achievements of 
her more glorious Son to lift her up to hope 
and standing before God. And this, too, is 
here signified. This woman of the Zodiac 
lies prostrate. She is fallen, and cannot of 
herself stand upright. Christ alone can lift 
up to spiritual life and standing. This woman 
accordingly holds forth the goodly Seed, the 
illustrious Branch, as the great embodiment 
of her hope and trust, the only adequate hope 
and trust of prostrate and fallen humanity. 

And what is thus vividly signified in this 
constellation is still further expressed and de¬ 
fined by the Decans, or side-pieces, which go 
along with it. 

Coma. 

Albumazer, who was not a Christian, says : 
“ There arises in the first Decan, as the Per¬ 
sians, Chaldeans, and Egyptians, and the two 
Hermes and Ascalius, teach, a young woman , 


COMA. 


77 


whose Persian name denotes a pure virgin, 
sitting on a throne, nourishing an infant boy , 
said boy having a Hebrew name, by some 
nations call Ihesu , with the signification Ieza, 
which in Greek is called Christ .” The celebra¬ 
ted Zodiac of Dendera, brought by the French 
savants to Paris under the older Napoleon, 
contains a Decan of Virgo , which also gives 
the picture of a woman holding an infant , 
which she is contemplating and admiring. 
The woman in Virgo and the woman in this 
first Decan of Virgo are one and the same; 
and the infant here is everywhere identified 
with the Seed and the Branch there. 

It is said of the infant Christ that “ the child 
grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with 
wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him” 
(Luke 2 : 40); so here He is pictured as sup¬ 
ported and nourished by what the Greeks 
made the virgin-goddess of wisdom, right¬ 
eousness, and all good arts and human thrift. 

The prophets are also very emphatic in de¬ 
scribing the promised Saviour as the Desired 
One, “ the Desire of women,” “ the Desire of 
all nations.” So the name of this first Decan 
of Virgo is Coma , which in Hebrew and Ori¬ 
ental dialects means the desired , the longed-for 
—the very word which Haggai uses where he 


78 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


speaks of Christ as “ the Desire of all nations.” 
The ancient Egyptians called it Shes-nu , the 
desired son. The Greeks knew not how to 
translate it, and hence took Coma in the sense 
of their own language, and called it hair — 
Berenice s Hair. The story is, that that prin¬ 
cess gave her hair, the color of gold, as a vo¬ 
tive offering for the safety of her brother; 
which hair disappeared. The matter was ex¬ 
plained by the assurance that it was taken to 
heaven to shine in the constellation of Coma. 
Hence we have a bundle of woman’s hair in 
the place of “ the Desire of all nations.” 

Shakespeare understood the matter better, 
for he speaks of the shooting of an arrow up 
“ to the good boy in Virgo’s lap.” Isis and 
other Egyptian goddesses figured holding the 
divine Infant, the Coming One, refer to this 
constellation of Coma, and hence unwittingly 
to Christ, born of a woman and nurtured on a 
virgin-mother’s breast. 

The next Decan of Virgo explains more 
fully concerning the Virgin’s Seed. 

The Double Nature. 

It is part of the faith, and a very vital part, 
that the Seed of the woman is the true and 
only-begotten Son of God, true God and true 


THE DOUBLE NATURE. 


79 


man in one and the same person. “ For the 
right faith is, that we believe and confess that 
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God 
and man; God, of the substance of the Father, 
begotten before the worlds, and man, of the 
substance of His mother, born in the world: 
perfect God and perfect man.” It is a great 
mystery, but so the Scriptures teach, and so 
the whole orthodox Church believes. In other 
words, we teach and hold that Christ, our Sa¬ 
viour, possessed a double nature, “ not by con¬ 
version of the Godhead into flesh, but by tak¬ 
ing the manhood into God,” in the unity of one 
Person, who accordingly is Immanuel , God 
with us, the Christ, who suffered for our sal¬ 
vation. And all this is signified in the con¬ 
stellation of Centaurus. 

Very curious are the pagan myths concern¬ 
ing the centaurs. Fable represents them as 
the great bull-killers. They are said to have 
been heaven-begotten, born of the clouds, 
sons of God, but hated and abhorred by both 
gods and men, combated, driven to the moun¬ 
tains, and finally exterminated. Their form 
in the most ancient art is a composite of man 
and horse—man from the head down to the 
front feet, and the rest horse. There was no 
beauty or comeliness, that any should desire 


8o 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


them. Some classical scholars have tried to 
account for the grotesque conception by im¬ 
agining a race of Thessalian mountaineers who 
rode on horses, whom the neighboring tribes 
viewed with horror, supposing each horse and 
his rider to be one being. The conceit is with¬ 
out the slighest foundation in fact. The an¬ 
cient Egyptians had the figure of the centaur 
long before the times of the Greeks. 

The most noted of the centaurs of classic 
fable is Cheiron . To him are ascribed great 
wisdom and righteousness. “ He was re¬ 
nowned for his skill in hunting, medicine, 
music, gymnastics, and the art of prophecy. 
All the most distinguished heroes in Grecian 
story are, like Achilles, described as his pu¬ 
pils in these arts.” He was the friend of the 
Argonauts on their voyage, and the friend of 
Hercules, though he died from one of the 
poisoned arrows of this divine hero whilst 
engaged in a struggle with the Erymanthean 
boar. He was immortal, but he voluntarily 
agreed to die, and transferred his immortality 
to Prometheus; whereupon the great God took 
him up and placed him among the stars. 

It is easy to see how this whole idea of the 
centaurs, particularly of Cheiron, connects 
with the primeval astronomy and related tra- 


THE DOUBLE NATURE. 


8l 


ditions. Strikingly also does it set forth the 
nature and earthly career of the divine Seed 
of the woman, as narrated in the Scriptures. 

Christ had two natures in one person ; and 
such was the figure of the centaur. Christ 
was a wise, just, good, and powerful Healer, 
Instructor, and Prophet; and such is the cha¬ 
racter everywhere ascribed to the chief cen¬ 
taur. Christ came to destroy the works of 
the Devil, and spent His energies in reliev¬ 
ing men’s ills, combating the powers of evil, 
teaching the ways of truth and righteousness, 
and driving away afflictions, as the centaurs 
hunted and destroyed the wild bulls and the 
wild boars, and as Cheiron helped and taught 
the Grecian heroes, minstrels, and sages. 
Nevertheless, He was despised and rejected 
of men, hated, persecuted, and deemed unfit 
to live, just as fabled of the centaurs. Chei¬ 
ron was fatally wounded whilst engaged in 
his good work—wounded by a poisoned arrow 
from heaven not intended for him. And, 
though immortal in himself, he chose to die 
from that wound, that another might live. 
And so it was with Christ in His conflict with 
the Destroyer. And a vivid picture of the 
same appears in the figure of this constella¬ 
tion, which is also one of the very lowest and 

F 


82 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

farthest down of all the signs belonging to the 
ancient astronomy. 

Here is a double-natured being, to men 
repulsive and hateful, yet really great, pow¬ 
erful, and beneficent, pushing with his lance 
at the heart of some victim, and moving the 
while right over the constellation of the Cross. 

The name of this Decan in Arabic and 
Hebrew means the despised. The brightest 
star in it the Greeks called Cheiron, a word 
which has a Hebrew root signifying the 
pierced; also Pholas , likewise from a Hebrew 
root signifying the making of prayer, the 
mediation. Sir John Herschel has observed 
that this star is growing brighter, and so be¬ 
longs to the class of changeable stars. Ulugh 
Beigh gives its name as Toliman , which means 
the heretofore and the hereafter —brighter once, 
and to be brighter again, as the divine glory 
of Christ was much hidden during His earthly 
life, in which He made himself of no reputa¬ 
tion, even lower than the angels, for the suf¬ 
fering of death, but was again glorified with 
the glory which He had with the Father be¬ 
fore the world was. Thus, this sign, and the 
traditions and names connected with it, strik¬ 
ingly accord with the facts of Christ’s earthly 
life and fate, and set forth some of the high- 


BOOTES. 83 

est mysteries of His Person, character, and 
mediatorial work. 


Bootes. 

The third Decan of this sign still further 
expresses and defines the marvellous story. 

One of the most common, constant, and 
expressive figures under which Christ is pre¬ 
sented in the Scriptures is that of the Ori¬ 
ental shepherd. Isaiah fore-announced Him 
as He who “ shall feed His flock like a shep¬ 
herd.” Peter describes Him as the Shepherd 
and Bishop of our souls. He says of himself, 
“ I am the good Shepherd that giveth His life 
for the sheep“ I am the good Shepherd, 
and know my sheep, and am known of mine 
“ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 
and they follow me; and I give unto them 
eternal life; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any man pluck them out of my 
hand.” And this feature of what pertains to 
the Virgin’s Son is the particular topic of this 
Decan. 

We here have the figure of a strong man, 
whom the Greeks named Bootes , the plough¬ 
man. But he and the so-called plough are 
set in opposite directions. Neither does a 
man plough with uplifted hand in the attitude 


84 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

of this figure. The name^thus transformed 
into Greek has in it a Hebrew and Oriental 
root, Bo , which means coming; hence, the 
coming One or the One that was to come. 
The Greeks, failing to hold on consistently to 
their idea of a ploughman, also called this 
man Arcturus , the watcher, guardian, or keep¬ 
er of Arktos , the adjoining constellation, which 
in all the more ancient representations is the 
flock , the sheepfold . Bootes is not a plough¬ 
man at all, but the guardian and shepherd 
of the flocks represented by what are now or¬ 
dinarily called the Great and Lesser Bears; 
though they both have long tails, which bears 
never have. The brightest star in the con¬ 
stellation of Bootes is also called Arcturus , 
the guardian or keeper of Arktos , a word 
which in its Oriental elements connects with 
the idea of enclosure, the ascending, the 
happy, the going up upon the mountains. 
According to Ulugh Beigh, the ancient Egyp¬ 
tians called Bootes Smat , who rules, subdues, 
governs; and sometimes Bau, or Bo , the 
coming One. At Katurops, the star on the 
right side or arm of Bootes, means the Branch, 
the Rod, and is often connected with the fig¬ 
ure of a staff, the shepherd’s crook, the tradi¬ 
tional emblem of the pastoral office. 


SUMMARY ON VIRGO. 


85 


There can, therefore, be no doubt that we 
have here not a Greek ploughman, but the 
far more ancient Oriental shepherd ’ the keeper, 
guardian, ruler, and protector of the flocks; 
and that shepherd identical with the Seed of 
the Virgin, the Promised One, He who was 
to come, even “ the Desire of all nations,” 
“ that great Shepherd of the sheep ” whom 
the God of peace brought up again from the 
dead (Heb 13 : 20). He also bears a sickle, 
which shows Him as the great Harvester; 
and the harvest He gathers is the harvest of 
souls, as where He directs his disciples to 
pray God to send forth laborers into His har¬ 
vest. And the harvesting of souls is the 
gathering and keeping of the Lord’s flock. 
The sickle and the crook thus go together as 
significant of one and the same idea, and 
show that Bootes is not the keeper of dogs 
and hunter of bears, but that promised Sa¬ 
viour who was to come to gather in the har¬ 
vest of souls and “ feed His flock like a 
shepherd.” 


Summary on Virgo. 

It is no part of my design in these Lectures 
to enter upon the exposition of all that is im¬ 
plied and expressed in the various symbols 


86 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


applied to Christ, except so far as necessary 
to show that what is written in the Scriptures 
is likewise written on the stars. And in so 
far as this first sign and its Decans are con¬ 
cerned, I think it must be admitted that the 
result is very marvellous. Ill must be the 
mind and dull the apprehension which cannot 
detect identity between God’s sign in the text 
and this sign in the heavens. Are they not 
of a piece with each other, and hence from 
one and the same divine source ? Here is the 
woman whose Seed was to bruise the Ser¬ 
pent’s head. Here is the great Virgin-born, 
the divine Child, whose name is Wonderful, 
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting 
Father, The Prince of Peace, of the increase 
of whose government and peace there is to 
be no end. Here is the prostrate one, de¬ 
ceived by Satan into sin and condemnation, 
but holding hopefully to the promised Seed, 
the most illustrious in the sphere of humanity, 
the vigorous, beautiful, and goodly Branch, as 
the particular joy and consolation of fallen 
man. Here is the Desire of all nations, the 
great Coming One, reseating the fallen who 
cherish and joy in Him. Here is His double 
nature in singleness of person, the “ God 
with us ” held forth in holy prophecy, the 


SUMMARY ON VIRGO . 


37 


Seed of the woman, who is the Son of God. 
Here is the Rod, the Branch, on whom was 
to rest the Spirit of wisdom and understand¬ 
ing, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit 
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, 
who should judge the poor with righteousness 
and reprove with equity, and smite the earth 
with the rod of His mouth, and slay the 
wicked with the breath of His lips. Here is 
the God-begotten Healer, Teacher, Prophet, 
the heroic Destroyer of the destroyers, yet 
despised and rejected of men, stricken, smit¬ 
ten, and afflicted, consenting to yield up his 
life that others might have immortality, and 
thereupon reappearing on high, clad in power 
and majesty, as the strong and everlasting 
Ruler, Guardian, and Shepherd of his flocks. 

These are among the most essential and 
most precious things of our faith. The Gos¬ 
pel is nothing without them. Yet this is but 
one of twelve such signs, each equally full, 
vivid, and to the point. God never does 
things by halves. What He once begins He 
always completes. We have seen the first of 
these signs. It bears with it the internal as 
well as the external evidences of what Mai- 
monides says the ancient Fathers affirmed, to 
wit: that it has come from the Spirit of proph- 


88 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


ecy. And if God inspired the framing of these 
signs, we may expect to find the rest as rich 
and telling as this opening of the series, each 
amplifying the other, till all the sublime won¬ 
ders of redemption stand revealed upon the 
sky. 

Meanwhile, let us believe and hold fast to 
the fact, so joyously fore-announced by the 
prophet, and so vividly inscribed upon the 
stars as the hope and trust of man, that a vir¬ 
gin has conceived and brought forth a Son, 
who verily is what Eve supposed she had when 
she embraced her first-born—even “a man, 
the Lord,” Immanuel , God with us. Let us 
rejoice and be glad that unto us a Child is 
given, even that Seed of the woman appointed 
to bruise the Serpent’s head and be the ever¬ 
lasting Shepherd and Guardian of His people. 
Let us see in Jesus the great Healer, Teacher, 
and Prophet, even God in humanity, who was 
to come, and who, though despised and re¬ 
jected of men, hated, condemned, and pierced, 
still lives in immortal glory and power as the 
true Arcturus , to give repentance, remission 
of sins, and eternal life to as many as accept 
Him as their Lord and Saviour. And, in this 
faith established, let us be all the more quick¬ 
ened in our interest and attention in tracing 


SUMMARY ON VIRGO. 


89 


the whole story as it shines upon us in our 
darkness from God’s everlasting stars. Even 
the heathen bard, contemplating what was thus 
fore-signified, and deeming the time of fulfil¬ 
ment come, broke forth in the song: 

“ Saturnian times 
Roll round again, and mighty years, begun 
From their first orb, in radiant circles run. 

The base, degenerate iron offspring ends; 

A golden progeny from heaven descends. 

O chaste Lucinda ! speed the mother’s pains, 

And haste the glorious birth ! thy own Apollo reigns J 
The lovely boy, with his auspicious face, 

Shall Polio’s consulship and triumph grace; 

Majestic months set out with him to their appointed race. 

The father banished virtue shall restore, 

And crimes shall threat the guilty world no more. 

The son shall lead the life of gods, and be 
By gods and heroes seen, and gods and heroes see. 

The jarring nations he in peace shall bind, 

And with paternal virtues rule mankind.” 

8 * 


SLcctute jfcmrtfj. 


THE SUFFERING REDEEMER. 


Rev. 5:9: “ And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy, 
. . . for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.” 


EDEMPTION, the price of redemption, 



iv and the heavenly honor of Him who 
brings redemption, are the topics which come 
to view in this text. And what was thus ex¬ 
hibited to the enraptured Apocalyptist as he 
stood within the heavenly portals gazing upon 
the throne of the thrice-holy Lord God Al¬ 
mighty, observing the Lamb as it had been 
slain, and listening to the songs of the ador¬ 
ing living ones and elders, is the same to 
which the second sign in the Zodiac intro¬ 
duces us. Let us look at it with that devout 
reverence which becomes a subject so sacred, 
so solemn, and so mysterious. 


The Sign of Libra. 


There would seem to be little or nothing to 
arrest our attention or to illuminate our faith 
in a matter so ordinary and unpoetical as a 


90 


THE SIGN OF LIBRA. 


91 


pair of balances for weighing commodities. 
A more homely, secular, and every-day figure 
would be hard to find, but a more expressive 
one, or one more profoundly significant of the 
weightiest truths that concern the hopes of 
man, would be still harder to select when con¬ 
sidered in the relations in which we here find 
this figure. The arms of that tilting beam, 
with its attached bowls, reach out into eter¬ 
nities. The positions of that beam, which a 
feather’s weight may change, indicate the for¬ 
tunes of worlds, the destinies of ages, the 
estates of immortality. The equipoise of that 
beam marks the adjustment of a vast and 
mighty feud and the effectual bridging over 
of a chasm as deep as hell. 

And the whole instrument together, in use, 
bespeaks the eternal justice which presides 
over all the boundless universe. In the Per¬ 
sian sphere a man or woman lifts these 
scales in one hand, and grasps a lamb with 
the other, the lamb being the form of the an¬ 
cient weight. Nor can we be mistaken when 
we here read the divine determination of the 
wages of sin and the price of redemption. 

The figure of the Scales, or Balances, is 
found in all the Eastern and most ancient 
Zodiacs, the down side invariably toward the 


92 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

deadly Scorpion. In some instances the bowl 
on the low side was held by the Scorpion’s 
claws, whence, in some of the Western spheres, 
Chelcz , the Claws, occasionally occupied the 
place of the Scales. Among the Jews it was 
denoted by the last letter of the Hebrew al¬ 
phabet, T, or Tau, originally written as we 
still write it, and as written in nearly all the 
ancient alphabets, in the form of a cross, 
which signified the end, the boundary, the 
limit, the completion ; as the Saviour when 
about to give up the ghost on the cross said, 
“ It is finished the last letter in the history 
of His humiliation having been reached. 

The names of this sign indicate the range 
of meaning attaching to it. In Hebrew it is 
Mozanaim , the scales , weighing , as where God 
is said to weigh the mountains in scales and 
the hills in a balance. In Arabic, it is Al Zu- 
bena , purchase, redemption , gain. In Coptic, 
Lambadia , station or house of propitiation. In 
the Arab tongue, Lam is graciousness, and 
badia is branch—the atoning grace of the 
Branch. In Greek it is called Zugos , the 
cross-bar by which two oxen or horses draw, 
the yoke, pulling against each other, thwarts 
joining the opposite sides of a ship, the cross¬ 
strap of a sandal, the balance-beam in weigh- 


THE SIGN OF LIBRA. 


93 


ing. The name of the first star in Libra is 
Zuben al Genubi, the price deficient. Other 
names are: Zuben al Shemali, the price which 
covers; Al Gubi, heaped up high; Zuben 
Akrabi, the price of the conflict. 

The figure in this sign is largely associated 
with the ethical impersonations of Astrea and 
Athene of the Greek and Roman mythology, 
who were the patrons of righteousness, jus¬ 
tice, order, government, and the institutions 
and powers of the state, by which rights were 
protected, justice administered, and the gen¬ 
eral good secured. The same figure still 
connects with houses where courts are held, 
where causes are tried, where accusations and 
disputes are settled, and the awards of justice 
declared and given. 

All this clearly settles, as near as may be, 
that this sign of the Zodiac has reference to 
some great divine adjudications and adjust¬ 
ments relating to defaults, defects, and accu¬ 
sations, involving penalties, prices, payments. 
And with these ideas applied to the continua¬ 
tion of the story of the Seed of the woman, 
the divine Son of the Virgin, promised and 
appointed to lift up the fallen, recover from 
the Serpent’s power, and bring men to the 
pasturages on the heavenly hillsides, we are 


94 the gospel in the stars. 

at once brought face to face with eternal 
tice weighing the demerits and awards of sin 
on the one hand, and the price of redemption 
rendered and paid for it on the other. 

The Commercial Idea in Christianity. 

There are some to whom this commercial 
element in the system of our salvation is very 
distasteful and repulsive. The natural heart 
is prone to be offended with it, and to reject 
it altogether. Rationalism proudly asserts 
that sin is personal and intransferable ; that 
the action or merit of one cannot be the ac¬ 
tion or merit of another; and that there can 
be no such thing as a vicarious atonement, or 
the release and justification from the penalties 
of sin by the substitution of the work, suffer¬ 
ings, or merit of a second party. Physically 
considered, this may be true. The action of 
one is necessarily the action of that one. But 
there are spheres in which the action and force 
of one may and does go to the account, or 
the determination of the estate, of another. 
It depends upon the relations of the parties 
how far the doings of the one may accrue to 
the good or ill condition of another. In the 
case of a husband and wife, a father and 
child, a king and his subjects, an army and 



COMMERCIAL IDEA IN CHRISTIANITY. 95 

the country for which it acts, the qualities and 
activities, good or ill, on the one side most 
certainly redound to the other side as well. 
Sin is of the nature of a debt, and debt may 
be as completely discharged by a friend of 
the debtor as by the debtor himself. Sin is 
of the nature of bondage, and release from 
bondage is a negotiable matter, and may be 
procured at a valuation or price, which may 
be equally paid by the bondman himself or 
by some one else kind enough to pay it for 
him. Many crimes and misdemeanors in hu¬ 
man law have penalties dischargeable in money 
consideration, which any friend of the crim¬ 
inal may as truly satisfy as the convicted one, 
and as may not be in the power of the convict 
to do. Crimes depend on law, for where 
there is no law there is no transgression; and 
law is the will of government. If the gov¬ 
ernment condemns in righteousness, in the 
same righteousness it can adjudge and ac¬ 
cept equivalent for the penalty, and there is 
nothing to say nay to it. The notions of men 
cannot bind the Supreme. 

Remission of penalty is likewise something 
entirely distinct from the moral estate of the 
criminal. The justification or pardon of the 
guilty one is another matter from his sancti- 


9 6 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


fication or personal goodness. The one is a 
thing of price; the other is a thing of power. 
The one may be procured by a friend, medi¬ 
ator, or surety; the other must be wrought 
into the experiences, affections, and impulses 
of the man himself. The vicariousness of 
redemption relates to justification, the keep¬ 
ing of the law satisfied by an adequate and 
accepted consideration, the holding back of 
all the powers to hurt or condemn, and to 
these only; whilst another administration be¬ 
tween the Redeemer and the one for whom 
He answers takes charge of the inward fitting 
of the absolved for the enjoyment of his free¬ 
dom and his training for the kingdom of the 
redeemed. And if the just and righteous 
Sovereign of the universe, supreme in all His 
perfections and rights, is agreed and content 
to accept a certain price or equivalent for re¬ 
leasing the culprit to the sanctifying and re¬ 
forming administration of his friend or surety 
on the payment of the price to governmental 
justice, where is the wrong, or what is there 
in the universe to question the rightfulne^s of 
the proceeding ? Let the Redeemer be found 
to pay the required ransom and to fill the 
place of such an advocate, surety, and Lord, 
and neither men, angels, nor devils have any 


COMMERCIAL IDEA IN CHRISTIANITY. 97 

right on any ground to except to the proceed¬ 
ing if the great Supreme is satisfied and 
pleased, and says, So be it. 

The only question to be decided is, whether 
God in His word sets forth to our belief that 
such is the arrangement in fact. We affirm 
that such is the clear and unequivocal teach¬ 
ing of the Scriptures from end to end. In all 
the old prophecies, in all the ritual observances 
connected with them, in all the New-Testament 
promises, facts, teachings., and institutes, and 
in all the visions of the final consummation,— 
everywhere we find the doctrine of salvation 
through the sacrifice of Christ as our Substi¬ 
tute, Surety, and Propitiation. And this is 
precisely what is signified by this sign of Li¬ 
bra and its Decans. 

In the place of the woman and her Seed we 
have here a pair of balances suspended in the 
sky, in which is signalled to us the inexorable 
justice of the Almighty, in which the deficien¬ 
cy and condemnation on the part of man, and 
the all-sufficiency of the ransom paid on the 
part of his Redeemer, are alike indicated. 
One of the scales is up, which says to univer¬ 
sal man, “ Thou art weighed in the balances, 
and art found wanting.” The name of the 
star which marks it records the verdict— 


9 


Gr 


98 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

“The price deficient .” But the other side is 
borne down, and with it the star named “The 
price that covers .” Of what that accepted price 
was to consist is more fully told in the accom¬ 
panying Decans. 

The Southern Cross. 

Strikingly enough, we here come upon a 
figure stationed in the darkest section of the 
heavens, in the very lowest part of the sphere, 
and outlined by the stars themselves so as to 
be readily recognized by every beholder—a 
figure of the shameful instrument on which 
the blessed Saviour died, even the Cross. 
Our latitude is too far to the northward for 
this constellation to be visible to us, but it is 
clear, distinct, and specially noticeable to those 
dwelling near or south of the equator. Hum¬ 
boldt speaks with enthusiasm of this cross set 
in stars of the southern sky. It was one of 
the reveries of his youth, he tells us, to be able 
to gaze upon that celestial wonder, and that it 
was painful to him to think of letting go the 
hope of some time beholding it. Such was 
his enthusiasm on the subject that he says he 
could not raise his eyes toward the starry 
vault without thinking of the Cross of the 
South. And when he afterward saw it, it was 


THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 99 

with deep personal emotion, warmly shared 
by such of the crew as had lived in those 
southern regions; and the more on their part 
because religiously attached, as Humboldt 
himself was not, to a constellation “ the form 
of which recalls the sign of the faith planted 
by their ancestors in the deserts of the New 
World.” He describes this Cross as standing 
perpendicular at the moment when it passes 
the meridian. Up to that moment it leans 
one way, and after that moment it begins to 
lean the other way. It is therefore a most 
convenient and marked timepiece, which the 
people universally observe as such. “ How 
often,” says this philosopher and traveller, 
“ have we heard our guides exclaim in the 
savannas of Venezuela or in the desert of 
Lima, ‘ Midnight is past; the Cross begins to 
bend ’!” 

Formerly this constellation was visible in 
our latitudes; but in the gradual shifting of 
the heavens it has long since sunk away to 
the southward. It was last seen in the hori¬ 
zon of Jerusalem about the time that Christ 
was crucified. It consists of four bright stars 
placed in the form of a cross, and is by far 
the most conspicuous star-group in the south¬ 
ern heavens. Standing directly in the path 


100 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


of the second Decan of Virgo, the double- 
natured Seed of the woman, and connecting 
with Libra and the price of redemption, it 
takes the same place in the celestial sym¬ 
bology which the Cross of Calvary holds in 
the Christian system. 

The Sign of the Cross. 

Ever since Christ Jesus “ suffered for our 
sins ” the cross has been a sacred and most 
significant emblem to all Christian believers. 
Paul would glory in nothing but “ in the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It was a sacred 
symbol long before Christ was born. We 
find it in the most sacred connections, edifices, 
feasts, and signs of the ancient Egyptians, 
Persians, Assyrians, Hindoos, Chinese, Kamt- 
schatkans,Mexicans, Peruvians, Scandinavians, 
Gauls, and Celts. The mystic Tau, the won¬ 
der-working caduceus, the invincible arrows, 
the holy cakes, all had their fabled virtues in 
connection with the form of the cross which 
they bore. But that sign has received a far 
more definite and certain consecration by the 
death of Christ upon it. Its original ancient 
meaning had reference to the Seed of the 
woman, the divine Son who was to suffer on 
it, to conquer by it, and to give eternal life 


THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. 


IOI 


through it. We cannot adequately account 
for it except as belonging to the original 
prophecy and revelation concerning Him and 
the price He was to pay for our redemption, 
conquering through suffering, and giving life 
through death. And in all the ideas connect¬ 
ed with it by the ancient peoples we can read¬ 
ily trace the application of it, the same as in 
the arrangement of the constellations. 

Aben Ezra gives its Hebrew name, Adorn , 
which means cutting off, as the angel told 
Daniel of the cutting off of the Messiah. And 
Christ was cut off by being condemned and 
crucified. 

In the Zodiac of Dendera this constellation 
is marked by the figure of a lion, with his 
head turned backward, and his tongue hang¬ 
ing out of his mouth as if in consuming thirst. 
It is the same idea. Christ is “ the Lion of 
the tribe of Judah,” and one of the few ex¬ 
pressions made by Him as he died on the 
cross was that of His consuming thirst. 
Strong and divine as He was, His life was 
there parched out of Him. “Jesus, knowing 
that all things were now accomplished, that 
the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst; 
and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put 
it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 


102 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


When, therefore, he had received the vinegar, 
he said, It is finished : and he bowed his head, 
and gave up the ghost.” The hieroglyphic 
name attached means pouring water; and 
David, impersonating the Messiah, exclaims, 
“ I am poured out like water, all my bones are 
out of joint; my heart is like wax ; it is melted 
in the midst of my bowels. My strength is 
dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue 
cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought 
me into the dust of death” (Ps. 22 : 13-18). 
It is simply wonderful how the facts in the 
sign correspond with the showings of the 
Scriptures, and how all the old myths embody 
the same showings. 

In the triad of the three great Egyptian 
gods each holds the sacred Tan , or the cross, 
as the symbol of life and immortality; but 
only the second, the Son, the Conqueror and 
Deliverer, extends the cross, thus pictorially 
expressing the offering of life and immortal¬ 
ity through the Cross. 

In the divine triad of Brahmanic deities the 
second, the Son, the One who became incar¬ 
nate in the man-god Krishna, sits upon his 
throne cross-legged, holding the cross in his 
right hand; and he is the god of deliverance 
from dangers and serpents. The same is 


THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. IO3 

otherwise represented as the ruler of the 
elements, the stiller of tempests, the good 
genius in all earthly affairs. But in all these 
relations and offices he always wears a cross 
on his breast. It is the same story of deliv¬ 
erance and salvation through the Cross-bear¬ 
er, the divine Son of the Virgin. And even 
so “ it pleased the Father that in Christ should 
all fulness dwell, and, making peace through 
the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile 
all things.” 

The old Egyptians pictured departed spir¬ 
its as birds with human heads, indicating the 
laying off of the earthly form and the putting 
on of immortality. But all such figures are 
represented holding the cross , emblematic not 
only of eternal life, but of that life as in, with, 
or through the Cross, just as the Gospel 
teaches. 

The old Mexicans, at certain of their holy 
feasts, made a cross composed of the flour of 
maize and the blood of a victim offered in 
sacrifice, which they first worshipped, and final¬ 
ly broke in pieces, distributed the fragments 
among themselves, and ate them in token of 
union and brotherhood. The Egyptians and 
others also had the sacred cake with the form 
of a cross upon it, which they ate in holy wor- 


104 THE gospel in the stars. 

ship. It was but another form of the same 
idea—life and salvation through the Cross. 

And in every aspect in which the figure of 
this Decan, in its deeper inward significance, 
appears in the records and remains of antiq¬ 
uity, it connects with deliverance, life, and 
salvation by means of it. Accordingly, it 
stands among the starry symbols of the an¬ 
cient astronomy precisely as it stands in our 
blessed Christianity. It was placed there as 
the sign of what holy prophecy had declared 
should come, just as we reverence it as the 
sign of what has come in Jesus of Nazareth, 
the Virgin-born Redeemer of the world. It 
is the Cross of Calvary prefigured on the 
sky in token of the price at which our re¬ 
demption was to be bought. 

The Victim Slain. 

The next in the series of these heavenly 
signs gives us a still fuller and clearer indica¬ 
tion of the nature and payment of that price. 
Christ was not only “ crucified,” but He was 
also “dead and buried.” Hence we have in 
the second Decan of Libra a slain victim, 
pierced and slain with a dart barbed in the 
form of the cross—pierced and slain by Cen¬ 
taur himself. “ The soul that sinneth, it shall 


THE VICTIM SLAIN. 


105 


die “ Without shedding of blood there is 
no remission.” Hence the doctrine of the 
Scriptures, that Christ’s life was made an 
offering for sin—He who knew no sin con¬ 
senting to be made a curse for us, that we 
might be made righteous through Him. He 
not only felt the cross, enduring its agony and 
shame, but He died upon it—died for us, that 
we might have eternal redemption through 
His blood. 

But an important element in the mysteri¬ 
ous transaction was, that He sacrificed him¬ 
self. Men in their wickedness killed Him, 
but it was He who gave himself into their 
hands to do it. Without this voluntariness 
and self-command in the matter the great 
redeeming virtue of His sacrifice would be 
wanting. Hence He was particular to say as 
He went to the cross, “ I lay down my life for 
the sheep. . . . No man taketh it from me, but 
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay 
it down, and I have power to take it again” 
(John 10 : 15-18). Hence He is preached as 
the great High Priest passed into the heav¬ 
ens, “ who through the eternal Spirit offered 
himself without spot to God,” having “ap¬ 
peared once in the end of the world to put 
away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 


106 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

9:11, 26). This was partially prefigured by 
the Cross in Centaur’s path, but more par¬ 
ticularly in this Decan, which shows the death- 
infliction by the barbed dart from His own 
hand. 

What this victim of Centaur is, is not very 
definitely determined. Many of our modern 
atlases give it as a wolf, but with no ancient 
authority for it. The Greeks and Latins 
sometimes called it the wolf; but they were 
so much in doubt that they more commonly 
called it the animal , the victim, without de¬ 
scribing it. Ulugh Beigh says it was an¬ 
ciently called Sura, a sheep or lamb. The 
Arabs use a word in connection with it which 
means to be slain, destroyed; hence the slain 
one, the victim. It plainly expresses slaying, 
sacrifice by death; and so would fall in with 
that saying of the Apocalypse, that Christ is 
“ the Lamb slain from the foundation of the 
world.” 

In some of the Coptic and Egyptian rep¬ 
resentations this victim is a naked youth, a 
stripped and unresisting young man, with his 
finger on his mouth. This youth is Homs , 
the beloved son of Osiris and the virgin, the 
One to come, who appears in various rela¬ 
tions under different names, all more or less 


THE VICTIM SLAIN. 


107 


connected with the bringing of life and bless¬ 
edness through humiliation and death. In 
Phoenician this youth is called Harpocrotes , 
under which name he became known to the 
Greeks and Romans. Harpocrates means jus¬ 
tice, or the victim of justice, the vindication of 
the majesty of law. Among the Romans, Har¬ 
pocrates was the god of silence, quiet submis¬ 
sion, and acquiescence. All of this connects 
with this Decan as a sign of the promised One, 
and prefigured Him as quietly and meekly 
submitting as a victim and sacrifice to justice 
and the law, even as Christ did actually lay 
down His life and submit himself as our pro¬ 
pitiation. “As a sheep before her shearers 
is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.” 

In some of the pictures of this youth he is 
represented with the horn of a goat on one 
side of his head, as well as with his finger on 
his lips. This again connects him with sacri¬ 
fice—willing, silent sacrifice. In some other 
pictures this horn is detached and held in his 
hand, filled with fruits and flowers—the orig¬ 
inal of the cornucopia , or horn of plenty; thus 
signifying that all good to man comes through 
that meek submission to stripping and sacri¬ 
fice to satisfy the requirements of eternal 
righteousness. 


o8 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


So, then, from every side we get the idea 
of silent submission to death as a slain vic¬ 
tim, and the bringing in thereby of a plentiful 
and everlasting provision for all the wants 
of man; prefiguring exactly what the Gospel 
sets forth as fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who, 
“ being found in fashion as a man, humbled 
himself, and became obedient unto death, 
even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2 : 5-8). 

The Turn in the History. 

But the Cross, and Christ’s death by the 
Cross, mark the limit and farthest boundaries 
of the humiliation for human redemption 
There was nothing lower than that in the 
history; and the first two Decans of Libra are 
the southernmost constellations but one in the 
ancient astronomy. From the moment that 
Jesus gave up the ghost the price was paid, 
the whole debt was discharged, and every¬ 
thing gave token of change. The tide there 
reached its lowest ebb, and turned, thencefor¬ 
ward to flow in ever-augmenting volume from 
glory to glory. 

The bones of the two thieves were broken, 
but the death of Jesus, already accomplished, 
spared His body that indignity. A man high 
in office and estate moved to take charge of 


THE TURN IN THE HISTORY. IO9 

His remains for honorable sepulture in an 
honorable tomb. Imperial Rome lent its sol¬ 
diers and its seal to guard and protect them 
in the place of their rest. The earth and sky 
gave signs of sympathy, and yielded attesta¬ 
tions which, drew even from heathen lips the 
confession of His divinity. A few days, and 
hell stood confounded before His majesty, 
and the doors of the grave gave way, and 
angels in white array stood round the spot 
to welcome His forthcoming in the powers of 
an endless life. Far above all principalities 
and powers, and every name that is named, 
He ascended, and for ever sat down at the 
right hand of the Father, the great Procurer 
and sovereign Giver of all good and grace. 
He acepted death, consented to quit his earth¬ 
ly life, agreed to take his place with departed 
spirits, “died for our sins according to the 
Scriptures” (i Cor. 15:3); but thence as¬ 
cended where the heavens resound with the 
new song, “ Thou art worthy , for Thou wast 
slain , and hast redeemed us to God by Thy bloodd 
Now, then, “we see Jesus, who was made a 
little lower than the angels for the suffering 
of death, crowned with glory and honor” 
(Heb. 2 : 9). His shameful Cross issued in 
a glorious Throne. 

10 


no 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


The Northern Crown. 

And so we find it foreshown in these starry 
pictures. That Southern Cross connects with 
the Northern Crown. The one is a Cross 
formed of stars, and the other is equally a 
Crown formed of stars. The third Decan of 
Libra is the Corona Borealis, vertical over Je¬ 
rusalem once in every revolution of the earth. 

“ The golden circlet mounts, and, as it flies, 

Its diamonds twinkle in the distant skies.” 

The Greeks say that this was the bridal- 
gift of Bacchus to Ariadne, the woman who 
through her love for Theseus came to her 
death by the hand of Artemis, or, according 
to another story, was so ill treated in her af¬ 
fection that she put an end to her own life, 
but was saved by the god, who became so 
pleased with her beauty that he raised her to 
a place among immortals, and gave her this 
crown of stars. It was but a clumsy and 
carnalized version of the story recorded in 
the primeval astronomy. Not a woman, but 
a man, even the Seed of the woman, is the 
subject. It was through His great love to 
mortals that He came to grief, neglect, perse¬ 
cution, and death. That death was the di¬ 
vinely-exacted price which had to be paid in 


A SNEER . 


111 


bringing the object of His love out of the 
dark labyrinth of sin and condemnation; but 
it was at the same time by His own free will 
and choice. He was brought up again out 
of death in immortal beauty and glory, and 
through the good pleasure and delight of the 
Father was awarded an imperishable crown 
in heaven. And that heavenly crown had its 
sign in this beautiful constellation. In its 
true original this story of Ariadne and her 
crown is the same as that of the great Re¬ 
deemer, giving up, and himself sacrificing, 
His life for the objects of His love, raised 
from the dead in immortal glory, that at the 
name of Jesus every knee should bow, and 
every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the 
glory of God the Father. 

Thus, then, the prophetic sign in the stars 
is fulfilled in the facts of the history. 

A Sneer. 

I have heard intimated that this is all spec¬ 
ulation. It may suit some to dismiss it in 
that way. But will those who think it noth¬ 
ing but speculation tell us, then, what is not 
speculation ? The French savants , whom many 
reverence as the high priests of reason over 
against all credulity and superstition, take it 


112 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


as solid enough to build on it an argument 
against Christianity ; why, then, is it not solid 
enough to build on it an argument for Chris¬ 
tianity ? Some think it speculation to hold 
for truth that there is a personal God; that 
the Bible contains a revelation from Him; 
that man has a soul to live beyond death; 
that there is to be a future judgment; that 
the earth is a globe in motion ever rolling 
around the sun; or that Jesus Christ is the 
appointed and only Saviour of fallen man ;— 
are we therefore to put all these things from 
us as empty dreams ? Believing the Bible, 
we believe that God from the beginning 
promised a divine Seed of the woman to 
bruise Satan’s head, and through suffering 
and death to bring in everlasting redemption 
for man; that He has come as the Son of the 
virgin, born at Bethlehem, crucified on Cal¬ 
vary, buried in Joseph’s tomb, resurrected the 
third day, opening the kingdom of heaven to 
all believers. Dare we for an instant allow 
I that this is mere speculation ? And if what 
we read in the book of God is not specula¬ 
tion, can it be mere speculation when we find 
it written with the same clearness on the stars ? 
It is not above a child’s capacity to judge 
whether the story thus told by the constella- 


NOT SPECULATION 


113 

tions answers to the story of the Gospel or 
not; and, seeing the correspondence, are we 
not to conclude that the one is the prophetic 
foretelling and anticipation of the other ? If 
not, I am at a loss to know what, in all the 
rounds of human belief or unbelief, is not 
mere speculation. No, no; the story of the 
Cross of Christ is true , and the word on the 
heavens unites with the word in the Book to 
assure us of the certainty of our faith. 

“ My trust is in the Cross; there lies my rest. 

My fast, my sole delight. 

Let cold-mouthed Boreas, or the hot-mouthed East, 

Blow till they burst with spite; 

Let earth and hell conspire their worst, their best, 

And join their twisted might; 

Let showers of thunderbolts dart round and round me, 

And troops of fiends surround me: 

All this may well confront; all this shall ne’er confound me .* 1 
10 * II 


Hecture jftftij. 


THE TOILING DELIVERER. 

Ps. 91:13: “ Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the 
young lion and the dragon shalt Thou trample under foot.” 

I T is generally accepted by the old inter¬ 
preters that the word “ lion ” in this text 
should be taken as denoting some venomous 
thing, either reptile or insect, of a class with 
serpents. Bochart thinks it means “ the black 
serpent.” Patrick takes the description as 
meaning “serpents, asps, and dragons, with 
all the rest of those venomous sorts of crea¬ 
tures.” The Saviour recurs to this passage, 
where He says, “ I give you power to tread 
on serpents and scorpions, and over all the 
power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). Ac¬ 
cordingly, we find both the Psalmist and the 
Saviour using the precise imagery of the 
sign of the Zodiac and its Decans which we 
are now to consider. A gigantic scorpion, 
serpent, and dragon, with a mighty man in 
conflict with them, mastering them and tread¬ 
ing them under foot, is the figure before us. 

114 


FA UL TY EXP LANA TIONS. 1 1 5 

Some have attempted to explain the origin 
and meaning of these signs of the Zodiac as 
gradual formations for season-marks, of sow¬ 
ing, reaping, fishing, hunting, cattle-culture, 
and the like. Abbe Pluche, in his History of 
the Heavens , thinks to exhaust the whole mat¬ 
ter after this manner, though it is hard to see 
the need for such high and elaborate memo¬ 
rials of what was otherwise far more obvious 
to the senses. And although some of these 
signs apply, and have been used, in this way, 
the abbe is obliged to admit that the scheme 
does not fit to Egypt, where many say these 
signs originated; neither does it fit any¬ 
where else; whilst it leaves all the Decans of 
these signs wholly unexplained. And, how¬ 
ever well the theory may here or there fall 
in with some of the signs, it is much per¬ 
plexed and disabled when it comes to such 
as Scoipio, since the scorpion is nowhere a 
thing of game or cultivation, and has no par¬ 
ticular season. The best the abbe can do 
with it on this theory is, to expound it as a 
sign of autumnal diseases, to tell the people 
when they were most likely to be sick ! Had 
the abbe taken the very significant hints given 
in some of his quotations, telling how these 
signs were explained to those initiated into 


II 6 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS . 

the more famous ancient mysteries, he would 
have saved himself such puerilities, and found 
what he so trifled with to be the records of 
truths relating to the highest spiritual and 
eternal interests of man. 

The Ancient Mysteries. 

Pluche quotes from Isocrates, Epictetus, and 
Tullyon the subject, who unequivocally testify 
that there these signs were explained through¬ 
out in a manner indicating most important 
truths of a sort to give peace in life and hope 
in death. “Those who are acquainted with 
the mysteries,” says the first, “ insure to them¬ 
selves very pleasing hopes against the hour 
of their death, as well as for the whole course 
of their lives.” “ All these mysteries,” adds 
Epictetus, “ have been established by the 
ancients to regulate the life of men and to 
banish disorders therefrom.” Tully says: 
“When these mysteries are explained and 
brought again to their true meaning , we prove 
not to have learned so much the nature of 
the gods [heathen deities] as that of the 
things themselves or of the truths we stand 
in need of. . . . The instructions given there 
have taught men not only how to live in peace 
and gentleness, but how to die in the hopes of 


THE SIGN OF SCORPIO. 117 

a better state to come!' But what had the rais¬ 
ing of good crops, the production of calves, 
lambs, and goats, and the timing of the fish¬ 
ing and hunting seasons to do with the hopes 
and prospects of the soul sinking away from 
earth into the mysterious eternity? And if 
these signs and asterisms, in “ their true mean¬ 
ing,” had reference to the soul and its immor¬ 
tal hopes, and were so explained in the noblest 
of the mysteries, it only shows that among the 
pagans, notwithstanding all their idolatry and 
darkness, the true prophetic light still feebly 
lingered by means of these primeval writings 
on the stars. And, with the rest of these 
comforting and hopeful records on the sky, 
this sign of the Scorpion has equal place and 
significance. 


The Sign of Scorpio. 

The name of this sign in Arabic and Syriac 
is At Akrab f which, as a name, means the 
scorpion, but also woundingy conflict , war. 
David uses the root of this word (Ps. 144: 1) 
where he blesses God for teaching his hands 
to war. In Coptic the name is Isidis, attack 
of the enemy—a word from the same root 
which occurs in Hebrew (Ps. 17:9) in the 
sense of oppression from deadly foes. The 


118 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

word scorpion itself is formed from a root 
which means to cleave in conflict or battle, and 
this sign in the Zodiac is the house of Mars, 
the god of war and justice. The principal 
star in this sign is called Antares , wounding, 
cutting, tearing. 

The scorpion, as a living thing, is a spider¬ 
like insect, formed something like a small lob¬ 
ster, with an extended chain-like tail ending 
in a crooked horny sting loaded with irritant 
poison. To be struck by a scorpion is often 
fatal, though not necessarily so; but the pain 
from it is the intensest that can be inflicted 
on the human body. It is the most irascible 
and malignant insect that lives, and its poison 
is like itself. And in this sign we have the 
figure of a mammoth scorpion, with its tail 
uplifted in anger as in the act of striking. 
The figure, the names, and all the indications 
agree in telling us that we here have the story 
of a most malignant conflict, and of a deadly 
wounding in that conflict. 

The Suffering Saviour. 

How clearly and fully all this corresponds 
to the great conflict of Christ, and His dear- 
bought victory in achieving our redemption, 
any one can easily trace. The text exhibits 


THE SUFFERING SAVIOUR. II9 

Him as victor in just such a conflict. Though 
it refers to the success of God’s people in gen¬ 
eral, and their security under the shadow of 
the Almighty, the New Testament applies the 
passage to Christ, who is always the kernel 
of everything pertaining to the powers and 
triumphs of His people. What they get, they 
get in and through His going before them in 
the matter. He is to His Church what the 
head is to the body—the chief of the whole 
thing, without which all the rest is powerless 
and nothing. Therefore we must understand 
the declaration as including Him and as re¬ 
ferring pre-eminently to Him. It accordingly 
represents Him as in conflict with serpents, 
scorpions, asps, dragons, and all deadly and 
venomous things, just as in this sign and its 
Decans. 

In the Egyptian Zodiac this sign is repre¬ 
sented by a monster serpent, Typhon, or 
Python, the hundred-headed son of a malig¬ 
nant, envious,' and intractable shrew, the fa¬ 
ther of the many-headed dog of hell, of the 
Lernsean Hydra, and of the three-headed, fire¬ 
breathing Chimaera. In the Hebrew Zodiac 
this sign was counted to Dan ; and Dan is 
described as “ a serpent by the way, and an 
adder in the path.” Scorpio certainly ranks 


120 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


with the Serpent, and stands in close affinity 
with the Dragon. 

The Serpent’s seed is everywhere and al¬ 
ways the enemy of the woman’s Seed; and 
the conflict is above all between Christ and 
the Devil, until all evil is finally subdued and 
crushed. The great office of the divine Son 
of the woman, and his experience in it, were 
sketched from the beginning, as the bruising 
of the Serpent’s head and the bruising of His 
heel. No sooner did Christ come into the 
world than the Dragon sought to devour 
Him through Herod’s executioners. No soon¬ 
er had He come up from the waters of bap¬ 
tism, attested from the open heavens as the 
Messiah, the Son of God, than the Devil 
made attack upon Him. And as He came 
to the final act of discharging the debt of a 
condemned world, the most terrible of all the 
assaults of the powers of darkness had to be 
encountered. 

We know something of the wrestling and 
agony which our Saviour suffered in the Gar¬ 
den of Gethsemane. We know how sorrow¬ 
ful was His soul, as though His immortal being 
were about to be broken up. We know how 
He was inwardly wrung with anguish until 
every pore issued sweat of blood, clotting on 


THE SERPENT 


121 


His body and falling in great drops to the 
ground. It was “ the hour of the powers of 
darkness,” as He himself explained. It was 
an experience of agony the like of which 
never had been, and never could be again. 
It was the sting and poison of the great 
Scorpion struck into the Son of God, making 
all His glorious nature vibrate as if in disso¬ 
lution. It was the prophetic sign of the Zo¬ 
diac fulfilled in the Seed of the virgin. 

The Serpent. 

A further confirmation that we are on the 
right track in thus interpreting this sign is the 
fact that the first Decan, or illustrative side- 
piece, presents us with a picture of the Ser¬ 
pent itself in all its giant proportions. 

It was the particular admonition to the 
Church in Philadelphia : “ Hold fast that thou 
hast, that no one take thy crown.” We have 
likewise seen in the preceding sign that there 
was held forth a celestial crown for Him who 
was to suffer on the cross. It was for the joy 
thus set before Him that the Apostle says He 
“ endured the cross, despising the shame.” 
On the other hand, mythology represents 
Python as aiming to acquire the sovereignty 
of gods and men, and only prevented from 
n 


122 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS . 


gaining it by the struggle which ensued be¬ 
tween him and the greatest of the Olympian 
gods. That myth was simply the story of 
this constellation, for here the Serpent is 
stretching after the celestial Crown, has al¬ 
most reached it, and is only kept from taking 
it by being held fast by a manly figure grasp¬ 
ing him firmly with both hands. 

This serpent in the Decan is, of course, to 
be construed with the Scorpion in the sign, as 
the one is expository of the other; just as 
Spica in Virgo is to be construed with the 
Infant in Coma. The conflict in both cases is 
the same, only the images are changed to give 
a somewhat further impression of it. In the 
first instance it is the Evil One attacking and 
inflicting the intensest of anguish; in the 
other, it is a fierce contest for the Crown. 

I will not here discuss the question whether 
it was a literal serpent that tempted Eve. I 
suppose some earthly serpentine form in the 
case, but whether it had wings or organs of 
speech matters not to the integrity of the 
record or of the ideas meant to be conveyed. 
The simple narrative, as it strikes the common 
mind, is as clear and satisfactory as any learn¬ 
ed expositions can make it. The physical 
creature was not the real enactor of the 


THE SERPENT. 


123 


temptation, but was the image associated 
with a dark and subtle intelligence operating 
in that form to deceive and ruin our first pa¬ 
rents. And from that, for ever afterward, the 
figure of a serpent became the universal sym¬ 
bol and representative of that Evil Spirit, 
hence called the Dragon, that old Serpent, 
the Devil, and Satan, who is the arch-enemy 
of all good, the opponent of God and the 
deceiver of men. And it is as the symbol 
of this evil power that these serpentine fig¬ 
ures appear in the constellations. 

The Bible everywhere assures us of the 
existence of a personal Devil and Destroyer, 
just as it everywhere describes a personal 
God and Redeemer. It tells us plainly whence 
he came, what he is, what power he wields, 
and what is to be his fate, just as it tells whence 
Christ is, who He is, for what purpose He 
came into the world, and what is to be the re¬ 
sult of His marvellous and complex admin¬ 
istrations. 

The doctrine of a Saviour necessarily im¬ 
plies the doctrine of a destroyer. The one is 
the counterpart of the other, and belief in both 
is fundamental to the right explanation of 
things, as well as to our proper safety. Men 
may doubt and question, and treat the idea 


124 THE gospel in the stars. 

of a personal Devil as a foolish myth, but 
their language nevertheless bewrayeth the 
unfittingness of their skepticism. The doc¬ 
trine is in the oldest, worthiest, and divinest 
records ever made for human enlightenment, 
and in the common belief of all nations and 
peoples from the beginning of the world. 
And here we have it pictured and repeated 
at every turn of the starry configurations, 
precisely as we find it presented in the sacred 
Scriptures. Nor can we be on the safe side 
without honestly receiving and believing it. 
People may make a jest of it if they will, but 
they will find out some day that this story of 
the Serpent is a terrible'reality. 

Ophiuchus. 

Any attentive reader of the Scriptures will 
observe how constantly the Redeemer of the 
world is represented in the attitude and cha¬ 
racter of a Physician, a Healer, a Mollifier of 
wounds, a Deliverer from the power of dis¬ 
ease and death. Before He was born the 
prophets fore-announced Him as “the Sun 
of Righteousness” who should “arise with 
healing in His wings”—as He “with whose 
stripes we are healed”—as He who “ healeth 
the broken in heart, and bindeth up their 


OPHIUCH US. 


125 


wounds ”—as He who saith, “ O death, I will 
be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy de¬ 
struction.” So the record of Him in the New 
Testament is that He “wentabout all Galilee, 
preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and 
healing all manner of sickness and all manner 
of disease among the people,” and giving 
every demonstration of power to make good 
His word, that if any one would receive 
His teachings and believe on Him that sent 
Him, the same should never see death, and be 
raised to life eternal at the last day. His great 
complaint against men ever was, and is, that 
they come not unto Him that they might have 
life. And this again is accurately and most 
strikingly presented in the second Decan of 
Scorpio and the myths connected with it. 

We have here the figure of a mighty man 
wrestling until he is bald with a gigantic ser¬ 
pent, grasping the same with both hands, dis¬ 
abling the monster by his superior power, and 
effectually holding him fast so that he cannot 
get the crown. With one foot lifted from the 
scorpion’s tail as stung and hurt, he is in the 
act of crushing that scorpion’s head with the 
other. He thus appears as the one who hath 
power over the Serpent and over death, hold¬ 
ing, disabling, and destroying them, though 


126 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

himself wounded in His conflict with them. 
Such is also the representation of Krishna in 
two sculptured figures in one of the oldest 
existing pagodas of Hindostan. 

In one of the old Egyptian spheres the pic¬ 
ture is that of a man enthroned, wearing the 
head of an eagle or a hawk, the enemy and 
slayer of the serpent, and assigned a Coptic 
v name which means the chief who cometh. 
But the more common figure is that which 
appears on our modern atlases, whom the 
Greeks in their own language called Ophiu - 
chus , the Serpent-holder, otherwise, from two 
Arabic words signifying the same thing, Che- 
leb Afei or AEsculapius , who figures so illus¬ 
triously in the mythologies and worships of 
Greece and Rome. 

The Great Physician. 

This Aesculapius was .held to be one of the 
worthiest of the gods. It was to him that the 
great Socrates in his last hours sacrificed a 
cock. His temples were everywhere, and 
everywhere frequented and honored. But, 
though regarded as a god, the son of Apollo, 
or the Sun, Homer applies epithets to him 
never applied to a god, and the greatest of 
his achievements are mostly ascribed to him 


THE GREAT PHYSIC/AH. 


127 


in the sphere and activities of a man. He 
therefore comes to view as both god and 
man, after the same style as the Seed of the 
woman in the Scriptures. He is assigned 
seven children, who were simply personifica¬ 
tions of his own qualities and powers, their 
names further describing him as the Healer, 
the Physician, the Desired One, the Health- 
giver, the Beautifier with good health, the 
One who brings cure, the Universal Remedy. 
The story is, that he not only cured all the 
sick, but called the dead to life again by means 
of blood from the side of the goddess of jus¬ 
tice and from the slain Gorgon, and finally 
himself suffered death from the lightnings of 
heaven because of the complaints against him 
by the god of hell, but was nevertheless raised 
to glory through the influence of Apollo. In 
all the representations he is invariably accom¬ 
panied with the symbol of the serpent. 

Many hypotheses have been broached to 
account for the origin of the story and illus¬ 
trious worship of Hisculapius; and I cannot 
but wonder that no one has ever thought of 
tracing it to the primeval astronomy and to 
this conspicuous constellation of Serpentarius , 
to which it most certainly belongs. Taking 
these signs, as I hold them to be, the pictorial 


128 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


records of the primitive revelation concerning 
the Seed of the woman, we at once strike the 
heart of a complete explanation of every fea¬ 
ture of the myth, which at the same time very 
wonderfully confirms the correctness of so 
accepting these signs. Here is the man with 
the serpent, as was AEsculapius. Here is 
the Seed of the woman, the Son of God. 
Here is the Serpent-holder and the Death- 
vanquisher, hence the matchless Physician and 
Healer. 

It may seem strange to identify Aesculapius 
with Christ, nor do we say that AEsculapius 
was Christ; but we do say that the constella¬ 
tion out of which came the heathen legend 
concerning Aesculapius was the picture and 
sign of the promised Sun of Righteousness, 
the Healer and Saviour of mankind. As 
truly as Spica denotes the Seed of the virgin, 
Serpentarius denotes that same Seed; and 
the whole story of Aesculapius thus found its 
hero, its features, and its names from the prim¬ 
itive prophecies and promises concerning the 
Virgin’s Son, as pictured in this constellation. 
Everything characteristic in the myth was in 
some sense prophetic of what should be, and 
was, fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Christ is 
the true Sun of Righteousness, the great 


THE GREA T PHYSICIAN. 129 

Healer, the heavenly Physician, the Desired 
One, the sublime Restorer of soul and body, 
the Beautifier with health and salvation, the 
Bringer of cure for suffering and perishing 
humanity, the Universal Remedy for all the 
ills which sin has wrought. He is the potent 
Holder of the Serpent, the Vanquisher of 
death. He is the Resurrection and the Life, 
who raiseth up the dead by virtue of the 
blood taken from the virgin in taking her 
nature, and the blood of the Gorgon van¬ 
quished by His power. And He it was who 
died from the divine thunderbolts as a Sin- 
bearer to silence the clamors of perdition, 
and yet, on the plea of His merit and divinity, 
was raised up and enthroned in highest heav¬ 
en as the very God of salvation. 

His identity with what the myth represented 
appears also very strikingly in a certain an¬ 
cient prophetic hymn to ^Esculapius, fabled 
as inspired and sung at the time of his birth 
—a hymn with these remarkable lines, which 
the angels might be supposed to sing over 
the manger of Bethlehem : 

“ Hail, great Physician of the world ! all hail! 

Hail, mighty Infant, who, in years to come, 

Shall heal the nations and defraud the tomb! 

Swift be Thy growth ! Thy triumphs unconfined! 

Make kingdoms thicker and increase mankind: 

I 


130 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Thy daring art shall animate the dead, 

And draw the thunder on Thy guilty head ; 

For Thou shalt die, but from the dark abode 
Rise up victorious, and be twice a God 1” 

ft 

The whole showing of the constellation, 
and of the mythic story connected with it, 
thus wonderfully accords with what the proph¬ 
ets anticipated and the New Testament teaches 
concerning the divine Son of the virgin. 

Hercules. 

And still more fully is the Messianic work 
of the bruising of the Serpent’s head set forth 
in the third constellation belonging to this 
sign. Here is the figure of a mighty man, 
down on one knee, with his heel uplifted as 
if wounded, having a great club in one hand 
and a fierce three-headed monster held fast 
in the other, whilst his left foot is set directly 
on the head of the great Dragon. Take this 
figure according to the name given it in the 
Egyptian hieroglyphics, and you have a picture 
of Him who cometh to bruise the Serpent and 
“ destroy the works of the Devil.” In the 
head of this figure is a bright star, the bright¬ 
est in this constellation, which bears the name 
of Ras al Get hi, which means the Head of 
him \who bruises; whilst the name of the sec¬ 
ond star means The Branch kneeling. The 


HERCULES. 


131 

Phoenicians worshipped this man five genera¬ 
tions before the times of the Greeks, and hon¬ 
ored him as representing a saviour. Smith 
and Sayce trace the legend of him in Chaldea 
four thousand years ago. On the atlases he 
is called Hercules. So the Romans called 
him, but the Greeks called him Herakles y 
whom they worshipped and honored as the 
greatest of all their hero-gods, principally on 
account of his twelve great labors. 

According to the mythic accounts, Herakles 
or Hercules was the god-begotten man, to 
whose tasks there was scarce an end. From 
his cradle to his death he was employed ac¬ 
complishing the most difficult and wonderful 
of feats laid upon him to perform, and all in 
the line of vanquishing great evil powers, 
such as the lion begotten from Typhon, the 
many-headed Hydra sprung from the same 
parentage, the brazen-footed and golden¬ 
horned stag, the Erymanthean boar, the vast 
filth of the Augean stables, the swarms of 
life-destroying Stymphalian birds, the mad 
bull of Crete which no mortal dared look 
upon, the flesh-eating mares of Diomedes, 
the queen of the devastating Amazons, the 
triple-bodied Geryones and his dog, the Drag¬ 
on which guarded the apples of the Hesper- 


132 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ides, and the three-headed snaky monster 
which kept the gates of hell. 

Some have argued that the story of Her- 
akles is a purely Greek invention, but it cer¬ 
tainly dates back in all its essential features, 
in Egypt, Phoenicia, and India, to a time long 
anterior to the Greeks. By their own con¬ 
fession the Greeks did not even understand 
who or what Herakles was, or what was meant 
by all his great labors. They took him for 
the sublimest of the hero-gods, as the ac¬ 
counts came to them, and here and there, as 
in so many other things, appropriated all to 
their own country and people; but Aratus, 
who sung the song of the ancient constella¬ 
tions, and from whose song the Apostle Paul 
makes a quotation, speaks of Herakles as 

“ An image none knows certainly to name, 

Nor what he labors for,” 

and, again, as 

“ The inexplicable image.” 

Ptolemy and Manilius refer to him in cor¬ 
responding terms. They could not make out 
their greatest hero, or any meaning to his 
works! Not with them, therefore, did the 
mythic story of the powerful laborer origi¬ 
nate. Its true original is in the ancient con- 


A PICTURE OF CHRIST 


133 


stellations of the primeval astronomy, which, 
like the Scriptures, pointed to the coming 
Seed of the woman to bruise, vanquish, and 
destroy the Serpent, and everything of the 
Serpent born or belonging to the Serpent’s 
kingdom. 


A Picture of Christ. 

Stripped of its foul heathenisms and ad¬ 
mixtures, we can easily trace throughout the 
myth all the outlines of the astronomic pic¬ 
ture, and that picture anticipating the sublime 
work of the Virgin’s Son, as depicted by the 
prophets and recorded in the Gospel, even 
the battering and vanquishing of Satan and 
all the powers of darkness. Christ is the 
God-begotten man. He it is that comes 
against the roaring satanic “ lion ” who “ go- 
eth about seeking whom he may devour.” 
He it is that came into the world to strike off 
the heads of the great Serpent, lurking in the 
bogs to ravage and destroy. He it is who 
comes forth to free the world of all its mon¬ 
sters and hellish pests, and purge it of its 
vast uncleanness. He it is who had it laid 
upon Him to fight and slay the Dragon, and 
thus recover access to the fruits of the Tree 
of Life, though having to bear the whole 
12 


I$4 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

weight of a guilty world in making the grand 
achievement. And He it is who “ descended 
into hell,” before whom the spirits of the un¬ 
der-world cowered ; to whose power the king 
of perdition yielded ; and who grasped the 
struggling triple-headed dragon-dog in charge 
of the infernal gates, and bore him off, “ lead¬ 
ing captivity captive.” Wounded He was in 
the dreadful encounter—wounded in His heel, 
wounded unto death, yet living still; suffering 
also from the poisoned garment of others’ 
sins, mounting the funeral-pyre to die of His 
own accord amid fires undue to Him, and 
thence ascending amid the clouds to immortal 
honor in heaven, with his foot for ever on the 
head of the foe. 

The heathen in their blindness could not 
understand the story, and knew not what to 
make of the foreshowing; but in the light of 
God’s fuller revelation, and of the facts at¬ 
tested by the Gospel, we read the origin and 
meaning of it all, and see how God has been 
all these ages proclaiming from the starry sky 
the glories, labors, sufferings, and triumphs of 
His only-begotten Son, our Saviour. 

There is no character in mythology around 
which great and wondrous incidents crowd so 
* thickly as around Herakles, and there is no 


A PICTURE OF CHRIST 


135 


character in the history of the world upon whom 
so much of interest and sublime achievement 
centres as upon Jesus Christ, the true Deliver¬ 
er. With Him was the wielding of power un¬ 
known to any other man. To kill Him and to 
be rid of Him has ever been the intensest wish 
of all the Dragon brood, from the time Herod 
sought the young child’s life even unto this 
present. With all sorts of ill and wrong was 
He smitten while He lived, and plotted against 
in all the ages by the jealous, obstinate, and 
quarrelsome goddess of false wisdom and 
serpentine intrigue against the will and word 
of Heaven. Even the sensual and disgusting 
loves of Herakles were but heathen and 
carnal perversions of the devotion to the 
interest and redemption of man which ever 
glows in the Saviour’s breast and shines in 
all His varied works. And as Herakles and 
all his tremendous labors were totally inex¬ 
plicable on any motives perceptible to ordi¬ 
nary reason, so is Christ the everlasting mys¬ 
tery, incomprehensible and unconstruable, in 
His life, deeds, or institutes, to all who fail to 
accept and believe in Him as verily the God- 
man, come, and still coming, to work the 
works given Him to do, through suffering, 
toil, and sacrifice to deliver an afflicted world 


136 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


—come, and still coming, to beat down Satan 
and spoil all the principalities and powers of 
evil. 

Thus, then, in this sign and its constella¬ 
tions, and in the myths founded on and asso¬ 
ciated with them, we have the precise picture 
presented in the text—the picture of the 
promised Seed of the woman treading on 
serpents, asps, dragons, and the whole brood 
of venomous powers—suffering and dying in 
the conflict, but in the end trampling all ene¬ 
mies in glorious triumph beneath His feet. 

We wonder betimes what is to come of 
this unceasing conflict between right and 
wrong, good and bad, which we see raging 
around us in all things — this creeping in 
everywhere of scorpions and adders to sting 
and hurt—this twining and hissing of ser¬ 
pents and all horrid things—this everlasting 
toil, expenditure, and suffering for the better, 
which never seems to come. A glance at 
these constellations may serve to tell us, the 
same as promised in the Holy Book. There 
can be no deliverance without it, and long and 
oppressive must the struggle be. Many a 
serpent must first be strangled, many a hy¬ 
dra attacked, many a wild passion caught and 
slain, many a pang endured, many a sore re- 


A PICTURE OF CHRIST. 


13 7 


verse experienced. But the cause is secure. 
The victory must come at last. God and truth 
and right and good must triumph in the end. 
The Ophiuchus who holds fast will not lose 
his crown. The scorpion may sting the heel, 
but the foot will crush its head. The faithful 
wielder of the club of righteousness may be 
brought to his knee, but he shall yet lift up 
the instrument of his power in glorious suc¬ 
cess, strangle Cerberus, and bear off in triumph 
the apples of gold, whilst the great Dragon 
writhes through all his length with his head 
under the heel of the Conqueror. For from 
of old it stands written, “Thou shalt tread 
upon the serpent and adder; the young lion 
and the dragon shalt Thou trample under 
foot.” 

12 * 


Hectare S^tt) 


THE TRIUMPHANT WARRIOR. 


Ps. 45 : 4, 5 : “ And in Thy majesty ride prosperously, because of 
truth and meekness and righteousness; and Thy right hand shall 
teach Thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the 
King’s enemies.” 


HESE words are from one of the most 



1 glowing of the Psalms, in the writing 
of which David’s heart boiled with goodly 
words. It is marked: “To the chief Musi¬ 
cian upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah 
—Maschil. A song of loves.” The lily-in¬ 
strument, the master-performer, and the whole 
body of singers were called into requisition 
for its rendering. As a sublime ode it was 
to be given with the sublimest skill, for it re¬ 
lates to the loveliest of heroes in the loveli¬ 
est of His aspects, offices, and relations to 
His people. This hero is none other than 
the promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
in His royal majesty and glory subsequent to 
His resurrection, and as to be hereafter re¬ 
vealed. When on earth He was despised 
and rejected of men, but here He is cele- 


138 


THE TRIUMPHANT WARRIOR. 1 39 

brated as “ beautiful, beautiful, above the sons 
of man,” endowed with every grace and in¬ 
vested with all authority and power. When 
on earth He was meek and non-resistant, not 
breaking so much as a bruised reed; but here 
He is contemplated and addressed as a mount¬ 
ed warrior, riding as a king, armed with bow 
and arrows, shooting down His enemies. His 
character here is that of the Mighty One, 
girding himself with honor and majesty, and 
going forth to victory. John, in his visions 
of the future, beheld “ a white horse ; and He 
that sat on him had a bow; and He went 
forth conquering and to conquer.” It is the 
same divine Hero, in the same character, of¬ 
fices, and work, in both instances. He has a 
crown, a throne, and a cause—the cause of 
righteousness over against injustice, usurpa¬ 
tion, and tyranny; which cause He enforces 
with invincible majesty. His former suffer¬ 
ings are now turned to aromatic perfumes 
upon Him. Out of the ivory palaces He is 
gladdened with the sound of the harp. And 
in glory and triumph He rides forth unto 
victory, hail’ed by the daughters of kings and 
worshipped by the queen at his right hand 
arrayed in the gold of Ophir. 

The picture is particularly magnificent. 


140 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

We cannot contemplate it without sharing 
the enthusiasm with which the inspired Psalm¬ 
ist sketched it. But the surprising thing is, 
that it is also in the Zodiac, and appears at 
full length in 

The Sign of Sagittarius. 

In this sign we have again the double-na¬ 
tured Seed of the virgin, the Son of God as 
the Son of man. The figure is that of a 
mighty warrior with bow and arrows, riding 
prosperously. In all tongues he is named, 
as in our charts, the Archer , the Bowman, He 
who sends forth the arrow. In form he is the 
Centaur , the Piercer—not now, however, in 
connection with the Cross, far down toward 
the hidden regions, offering himself as a 
victim and sacrifice to satisfy the demands of 
justice, but lifted up on high, stationed on the 
path of the Sun, himself the Sun of Right¬ 
eousness rising in His majesty. 

The Greeks called him Cheiron , the Execu¬ 
tes the chief centaur, whom they described 
as “ the righteous-dealing centaur,” precisely 
as this Psalm represents the Horseman and 
Hero of whom it speaks. Other centaurs 
were considered mean and beneath humanity, 
as Christ was accounted in His humiliation; 


THE SIGN OF SAGITTARIUS. 141 

but with Cheiron everything noble, just, re¬ 
fined, and good was connected, even super¬ 
human intelligence, dignity, and power. The 
artists in picturing him labored to blend the 
greatest beneficence and goodness with the 
greatest strength and majesty. And such is 
the description of the divine Hero of this 
Psalm. 

According to the myths, Cheiron was the 
great teacher of mankind in heavenly wis¬ 
dom, medicine, music, and all noble and po¬ 
lite arts, and from whom the most exalted 
heroes and the most honored of men received 
their tuition. And so it is said of this sub¬ 
lime King that every grace was poured upon 
His lips, and that He is the One specially 
blessed of God, whose name every genera¬ 
tion shall remember, and whom the people 
shall praise for ever and ever. The barbed 
arrows of this Archer are aimed at the heart 
of the Scorpion. It was sung of Cheiron, 

“ ’Midst golden stars he stands refulgent now, 

And thrusts the scorpion with his bended bow.” 

And thus the “ arrows ” of the divine Hero 
of the text “are sharp in the heart of the 
King’s enemies.” His war is with the whole 
Serpent-brood, and His going forth is for 


142 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

their destruction. Whether we understand 
it of the moral and renovating power of the 
Gospel, or of the judicial administrations of 
the Son of man at the end of the present 
Gospel dispensation, or more naturally of 
both, it is the office and purpose in all the 
doings of the glorified Christ to pierce and 
wound the Serpent, to destroy all his works 
and power, and to disable him for ever. And 
this is shown in the sign, just as it is declared 
in the Gospel. 

Some of the names in the sign express the 
further idea of graciousness and delight in 
connection with the action signified; which 
again accords with that saying ascribed to 
Christ in both Testaments : “ Lo, I come: in 
the volume of the book it is written of me. 
I delight to do thy will, O my God : yea, thy 
law is within my heart. I have preached 
righteousness in the great congregation: lo, 
I have- not refrained my lips.” 

Swiftness is another idea included in these 
names; and hence of quick and resistless 
power, of which horses and horsemen are the 
biblical images, particularly in connection with 
the scenes of the great judgment which Christ 
is appointed to enact. And the coming again 
of Christ is everywhere described as being 


THE SIGN OF SAGITTARIUS. 


143 


with great power and glory, quickly, suddenly, 
like the lightning’s flash. His own word is, 
“ Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is 
with me“ The great day of the Lord hast- 
eth greatly “ For when they shall say, Peace, 
peace; then sudden destruction cometh upon 
them.” 

Cheiron is sometimes represented as occu¬ 
pying Apollo’s throne; and so the word to 
this royal Judge and invincible Warrior is, 
“Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; 
the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre.” 
In the Indian sacred books there is a tenth 
avatar predicted, when Vishnu, the second in 
the divine Triad, is to come as a man on a 
white horse, overthrowing his enemies and 
rooting out all evil from the earth. And so, 
according to the last book of the New Testa¬ 
ment, when the King of kings and Lord of 
lords comes forth to the battle of that great 
day to overwhelm the Beast and the false 
Prophet and all their armies, He comes in 
the form of a man sitting upon a white horse, 
in righteousness judging and making war, the 
same as in Sagittarius. 

Thus everything in and illustrative of this 
sign serves to identify it as a pictorial proph¬ 
ecy of our blessed Lord, answering in all re- 


144 the gospel in the stars. . 

spects to the representations given in the 
Scriptures. Grotesque and unevangelic as 
it may seem, it is a showing upon the stars of 
the same things, under the same images, that 
we find written concerning the glorified Re¬ 
deemer in whom all our hopes are centred. 
He is the sublime Lord and King of salva¬ 
tion, with the two natures in one person, once 
humbled to death on the cross, but now ex¬ 
alted to glory in heaven. He is the wise, the 
true, the good, the righteous, who standeth 
for the defence and administration of right¬ 
eousness against the Devil and all the pow¬ 
ers of the Adversary. He is the mighty 
Warrior who rideth prosperously, with the 
bow and arrows of truth and judgment, ever 
aiming and speeding them at the heart of the 
foe, and never more giving over until He has 
carried everything through to everlasting vic¬ 
tory, when Death and Hades, and all the pow¬ 
ers and children of evil, shall have sunk for 
ever to their deserved perdition. And the 
Decans in this sign confirm and further illus¬ 
trate what we thus read from it. 

The Harp. 

In connection with this shooting of the Al¬ 
mighty’s arrows against His enemies, when 


THE LYRE OF ORPHEUS. I45 

His right hand shall find them out and His 
wrath swallow them up, so that their fruit 
shall be destroyed from the earth and their 
seed from among the children of men, the 
twenty-first Psalm introduces a special cele¬ 
bration of God’s exalted strength in the mat¬ 
ter, and represents all His holy ones as sing¬ 
ing and praising His power. So also in the 
Apocalyptic visions of the destruction of the 
destroyers of the earth, the four-and-twenty 
elders in heaven fell upon their faces and 
worshipped God, saying, “We give Thee 
thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art 
and who wast, because Thou hast taken to 
Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned”— 
i. e. entered on Thy dominion. Accordingly, 
also, the first Decan of Sagittarius is the con¬ 
stellation of Lyra , the Lyre, the Harp, marked 
by one of the brightest stars in the northern 
heavens. 

• 

The Lyre of Orpheus. 

The harp is the oldest of stringed instru 
ments of music. The ancients ascribed its 
invention to the gods. We find it named 
along with the organ, or shepherd’s pipe, 
three hundred years before Adam died (Gen. 
4:21), and find a specimen of song to be 

13 k 


I46 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

sung to it dating back to the same period 
(Gen. 4:23, 24). The most renowned per¬ 
former on the harp or lyre in the classic myths 
is Orpheus, often identified with Apollo. He 
is called the father of songs and the partic¬ 
ular helper of the Argonauts, the noble ones 
seeking for the Golden Fleece. He is not 
mentioned by this name by Hesiod or Homer, 
and subsequent writers place him far anterior 
to Hesiod and Homer, and mention all poets 
and singers as his children or the children of 
Apollo, to whom he stands in close relation. 
His art is everywhere associated with relig¬ 
ion, prayer, prophecy, and all sacred services, 
teachings, and anticipations, especially with 
the joyous element in holy things. At the 
instance of Apollo and the Muses, it is said, 
God himself placed the Harp of Orpheus 
among the stars, where it has ever since been 
gladdening the celestial sphere with bright¬ 
ness and with song. 

The placing of that harp as the first Decan 
of Sagittarius connects pre-eminent gladness, 
joy, delight, and praise with the action of this 
great Archer with his bow and arrows. There 
is but one such sign in all the ancient constel¬ 
lations, and that is associated with the going 
forth of this double-natured Bowman aiming 


THE LYRE OF ORPHEUS. 


147 


his arrows at the Scorpion’s heart. It marks 
him in this particular attitude and act as the 
achiever of what is the sublimest glory of . 
God and the sublimest joy of heaven. 

People often smile and jest at the fabled 
power of the lyre of Orpheus, at which the 
rivers for the time forgot to flow, the wild 
beasts lost their savageness, the trees and 
rocks on Olympus moved from their places 
to listen, the ship of the Argonauts glided 
smoothly into the sea, the mountains became 
entranced, the dragon that guarded the Gold¬ 
en Fleece sank into sleep, the sufferers in the 
under-world for the moment lost their pains, 
and all the potencies of hell yielded homage. 
But when we connect that lyre with the ac¬ 
tion of this glorious Archer, and take that 
action in its true prophetic significance, as 
the inventors of these signs intended them, 
these smiles and jests subside, and a scene 
of glorious achievement opens to our view, 
which has been the burden of all the songs 
and prayers and hopes and joyful anticipa¬ 
tions of an enthralled and suffering world 
from the time that Adam was driven out of 
Eden up till then. That glorious Archer, as 
he appears in this sign, answers to the Lamb 
as John beheld Him, standing, having seven 


148 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS . 

horns and seven eyes—all the fulness of re¬ 
gal, intellectual, and spiritual power and al- 
• mightiness—and in the act of lifting the title- 
deed of the alienated inheritance to take 
possession again of all that sin has disponed 
away. Heaven contemplated that act with 
awe, and grew breathless as it gazed, and a 
thrill went through the universal heart of 
living things. A new song broke forth from 
the living ones and elders around the throne 
of Deity, and rolled sublime through all the 
heavenly spheres, till afar in the depths of 
space the voices of angelic myriads took it 
up, and every creature in heaven, and on 
earth, and under the earth, and upon the sea, 
and all things in these realms, were heard 
singing, and saying, “To Him that sitteth 
upon the throne, and to the Lamb, be the 
blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and 
the dominion for the ages of the ages !” And 
this is the true lyre of Orpheus—the joy and 
gladness and jubilation of the universe at the 
fulfilment of the burden of all sacred hope 
and prayer embodied in the words, “ Thy 
kingdom come—Thy will be done on earth as it 
is in heaven /” We thus observe a depth, a 
splendor, a volume, a pathos, a universality 
of sacred ardor and poetic outpouring, as 


THE LYRE OF ORPHEUS. 149 

just as it is tremendous, and to which all the 
extravagances of the mythic records do not 
reach halfway. 

With a wonderful appropriateness, then, 
which could hardly have come from the un¬ 
aided powers of man, did the framers of these 
constellations select the brightest star in the 
northern heavens to represent this harp, and 
give to it the name of Vega , which signifies 
He shall be exalted , The warrior triumphant —• 
the very name from which our own word vic¬ 
tory has come—a name which the Apostle 
uses in its primeval and true connection 
where he challenges Death and Hades, tri¬ 
umphs over them, and cries his glad thanks 
“to God who giveth us the victory through 
our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

In some of the old uranographies this con¬ 
stellation is marked by the figure of an eagle 
or hawk, the enemy of the serpent, who darts 
forth upon his prey from the heavenly heights 
with great suddenness and power; and this 
eagle is in the attitude of triumph, much as 
the Mexican eagle is presented victoriously 
grasping the serpent in its claws. It is the 
same idea, the triumphant overwhelming of 
the enemy. From this many of the modern 
atlases represent the figure of this constella- 
13 * 


150 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

tion by an eagle holding the harp, or a harp 
placed over an eagle, expressing triumphant 
song springing from the eagle—that is, from 
the vanquisher and destroyer of the serpent. 
Whatever the variations of the figure, the 
same idea is retained, showing the true inten¬ 
tion in the marking of this constellation, and 
the tenacity with which the original thought 
has clung to it in all ages and in all nations. 
It is the sign of the Serpent ruled, the Enemy 
destroyed, the triumphant fulfilment of the 
sublimest of hopes and sacred promises. 

Ara, the Burning Pyre. 

Still further is this signified in the second 
Decan, which the Arabs call Al Mugomro , 
the completing, the finishing, the making of 
an end of what was undertaken. The Hebrew 
uses the elements of the same word where it 
is said, “ The Lord will perfect that which con- 
cerneth me” (Ps. 138 :8). The Greeks call¬ 
ed it Ara , a word which the Latins used to 
denote a small elevation of wood, stone, or 
earth made for sacred purposes, particularly 
for sacrifices; hence an altar , and also a fu¬ 
neral-pile , whence we have in our charts the 
figure of an altar covered with burning fire to 
denote this constellation. The Greeks used 


THE UNDER - WORLD. 1 5 I 

the word ara sometimes in the sense of pray¬ 
er, but more frequently in the sense of an im¬ 
precation, a curse, or the effect of a curse— 
bane, ruin, destruction. Personified, it was 
the name of the goddess of revenge and de¬ 
struction. In ZEschylus it is the name of the 
actual curse of GEdipus personified. It con¬ 
nects directly with the Hebrew mara and 
arom , which mean a curse , utter destruction. 

The Under-World. 

In the latitudes in which these constellations 
were originally formed Ara was on the low¬ 
est horizon of the south. The regions beyond 
this were contemplated as the lower regions, 
the under-world, the regions of darkness, 
“ outer darknessjust as the regions toward 
the north pole are contemplated as the upper 
regions, the regions of light and heaven. And, 
singularly enough, these ara-fires burn down¬ 
ward, toward the dark and hidden abyss, to¬ 
ward the covered and invisible south pole. 
The whole significance of the name and fig¬ 
ure thus connects with ultimate perdition, the 
completed curse, the sending into “the lake 
of fire.” 

In the Zodiac of Dendera the figure is dif¬ 
ferent, but the idea is the same. There we 


152 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

have a throned human figure wielding the 
flail, the implement of threshing and bruising, 
and that figure at the same time set over a 
jackal, often identified with the dragon. Here 
is the unclean and cunning animal of dark¬ 
ness brought under dominion and judgment, 
threshed, bruised, punished. This throned and 
threshing figure has a name which signifies 
the Coming One , the same as in Scorpio. The 
meaning of the sign is therefore plain. The 
idea is, victory over the enemy, the thrusting 
of him into the regions of darkness, the 
threshing and bruising of him beneath the 
feet of the conqueror, the beating of him 
down into final punishment. 

According to the Scriptures, the spoiling 
of Satan and his kingdom by the Virgin-born 
Son of God is to go on, step after step, to 
complete overthrow and final perdition. A 
curse was pronounced upon him at the be¬ 
ginning, fore-announcing that his head should 
be bruised under the heel of the promised 
Seed of the woman. Though a strong man 
armed, a stronger than he was to come upon 
him, take from him his armor, and subdue all 
things unto himself, spoiling principalities and 
powers, triumphing over them. Christ tells 
us of “ everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil 


THE UNDER-WORLD. 


153 


and his angels.” John, in his vision of what 
must shortly come to pass, heard the heavens 
resounding with the song, “ Now is come sal¬ 
vation, and strength, and the kingdom of our 
God, and the power of His Christ: for the 
accuser of our brethren ”—“ the great Dragon, 
that old Serpent”—“is cast down.” He also 
saw a messenger from heaven laying hold on 
the same, binding him and casting him into 
the abyss, whence he was finally “cast into 
the lake of fire and brimstone,” where he 
“ shall be tormented day and night for ever 
and ever.” Such is the curse upon the great 
Enemy, and the finishing of him as set forth in 
the Holy Scriptures. And what we find thus 
written in the book is identical with what is 
pictured on the heavens in connection with 
Sagittarius . To some the idea may seem far¬ 
fetched, and so different from ordinary think¬ 
ing as to be almost absurd ; but let them look 
at the facts as they are, and tell us what other 
conclusion is possible. What could be more 
complete than the correspondence of the two 
records ? 

The third constellation belonging to the 
sign of the Bowman is also very significant, 
and further determines the meaning to be as 
just expressed. 


154 


THE GtfSPEL IN THE STARS,. 


The Dragon. 

One of the most famous mythological cre¬ 
ations in the history of human thought is the 
horrid serpentine monster called the dragon. 
Together with the serpent, and other things 
of the same repulsive and dangerous class, 
this is the universal symbol of evil—of some 
living power inimical to God and all good, 
and the just terror of all men. The Serpent 
stands for that form of the Evil One in which 
cunning, artifice, deceit, and malignant sub¬ 
tlety are the characteristics. The Dragon 
represents the same power armed, defiant, 
and putting forth in imperial forms, and de¬ 
vastating by force. The Serpent is the sly 
and creeping deceiver, smoothly gliding in to 
betray, insinuating his poison and destroy¬ 
ing by stealth. The Dragon is the terrific 
oppressor, assailing with teeth and claws, 
armed all over with spikes, lifting speary 
wings and tail, spouting fire and fury, and 
rushing upon its prey with every vehemence 
of malignant energy. The Serpent and the 
Dragon are one and the same, only in differ¬ 
ent modes of manifestation. Hence the Dev¬ 
il is called “the Dragon, that old Serpent.” 
Whenever the power of evil is clothed in po- 


THE DRAGON. 


155 


litical sovereignty, persecuting, tyrannizing, 
and oppressing, it is always the Dragon, or 
some rampant figure of destruction answer¬ 
ing to it. * 

Among all nations we find this terrible im¬ 
age. Chinese and Japanese legend and art 
superabound with it. The pages of the clas¬ 
sic poets of Greece and Rome teem with it. 
We find it in the religious books, traditions, 
and ideas of men of all classes, in all sections 
of the world, in all the ages. It is in the Old 
Testament, in the Apocrypha, and in the New 
Testament. Jews and Gentiles, Christians 
and heathen, civilized and savage, the Teu¬ 
tons, Scandinavians, and Celts of Europe, as 
well as the myriads of Asia and the remotest 
isles of the sea, alike have it, and connect 
with it the same family of ideas. And every¬ 
where the vanquishing of this monster is the 
work of gods, heroes, and saints. 

Many have wondered and speculated as to 
how such an imagination obtained this uni¬ 
versal hold of the human mind. There is 
nothing in earthly zoology to serve as the 
original for the picture, or to account for con¬ 
ceptions and ideas so uniform all the world 
over. No man ever saw a dragon, living or 
dead, yet all men talk of the dragon, and adopt 


156 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

it into all their religion, heraldry, and art as 
the symbol of some well-known reality. Where 
did it come from ? Admit the doctrine which 
I am endeavoring to elucidate respecting these 
primeval constellations, and the whole thing 
is at once and completely explained as noth¬ 
ing else can explain it. Here is the Serpent 
in all forms of manifestation, and particu¬ 
larly the Dragon, wound about at least one- 
half of the northern sky, his tail alone ex¬ 
tending over the territory of “ the third part 
of the stars.” Here is the divine Hero, 
armed with bow and arrows, riding like St. 
George, and aiming his weapons at the heart 
of that Dragon’s representative. Here is 
this precise symbol of the evil power in all 
his various shapes and attributes, and the 
great Son of the virgin revealed for his de¬ 
struction, and going forth in His benevolent 
majesty to make an utter end of the terrible 
beast. In all the ages has this image been 
before the eyes of men in the primeval as¬ 
tronomy, pictorially portraying in the stars 
the very ideas that figure so conspicuously in 
their myths and traditions. And this, and 
this only, is the true original of all these 
ethnic conceptions—the true original by in¬ 
spiration given. 


THE DRAGON. 


15 7 


And as Sagittarius goes forth in war against 
the enemy to complete upon him the curse, 
to make all clear and unmistakable the great 
constellation of the Dragon is added as a 
third explanatory side-piece, denoting exactly 
who it is that this mighty administration strikes, 
thus waking all the triumphant songs of heav¬ 
en. It is the final fall of the Dragon-power 
before the arrows of the invincible warrior- 
Seed of the woman. It is the ultimate victory 
fore-announced. 

In the Apocalyptic visions of the consum¬ 
mation John beheld a great red Dragon, hav¬ 
ing seven heads and ten horns, upon his head 
seven diadems, whose tail was drawing along 
the third of the stars of the heaven. He 
stood before the woman eager to devour her 
child as soon as born; but in spite of him 
that child was caught away to God and to His 
throne. And then came war in heaven : Mi¬ 
chael and his angels warring with the Dragon, 
who was cast down, and all his angels with 
him. And then it was that the great voice 
of song was heard in heaven, because the 
Accuser, the great Adversary, was conquered 
and cast down. For a while his persecutions 
continued upon the earth, till the crowned 

Warrior on the white horse came, destroying 
14 


15 S THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

his armies, chaining him in the abyss for a 
thousand years, and then consigning him and 
all his to the lake of fire, whence the smoke 
of their torment ascendeth up for ever and 
ever (Rev. 12:19, 20). 

Thus also the Psalmist sings : “ God is my 
King of old, working salvation in the midst 
of the earth, breaking the heads of the drag¬ 
ons in the waters, breaking the heads of Le¬ 
viathan in pieces” (Ps. 74). 

Isaiah refers exultingly to the time when 
the Lord cometh forth out of His place to 
punish the workers of iniquity, and says : “ In 
that day the Lord with His sore and great and 
strong sword shall punish Leviathan the cross¬ 
ing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked ser¬ 
pent ; and He shall slay the Dragonand 
calls upon all the people of God to sing when 
that day arrives (Isa. 26 : 27). 

And when we lay these foreshowings of 
the holy prophets alongside of these pictures 
in the stars, who can question that we have 
one and the same story in both ? In both we 
behold the same Dragon, the same worming 
of himself into the domain of God, the same 
spoliation of peace and good by his malignant 
power, and the same vastness and stretch of 
his evil influences and dominion. In both we 


THE DRAGON. 


159 


have the same divine Hero, arrayed as an 
invincible warrior, going forth in conquer¬ 
ing majesty against the Dragon, wounding 
him with His arrows, cleaving him with His 
sword, bruising and crushing him for his 
wickedness, annihilating his power, and con¬ 
signing him to his deserved and everlasting 
perdition. The names, the actions, the im¬ 
plements, the results, and the common joy 
of the holy universe over the achievement, 
are one and the same in the constellations, in 
the Scriptures, and in the myths. Nor could 
all this possibly have been except from one 
original source, even the sacred promise and 
foreshowing of God, variously certified, and 
ever again repeated through His prophets, 
even from the foundations of the world. 

The name of this great constellation is 
Draco , the Dragon, the trodden-on. The 
chief star has several ancient names, such 
as Al Waid\ who is to be destroyed; Thuban , 
the subtle ; Al Dlb, the reptile. This was the 
pole-star from four to six thousand years ago, 
singularly answering to the scriptural desig¬ 
nation of Satan as the god and prince of this 
world. To this day this star is still observed 
as a very important star to nautical men and 
the direction of commerce upon the seas, just 


l6o THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

as the Dragon power still largely prevails. 
The second star in this constellation is Rasta - 
ban , head of the subtle; the third, Etanin , the 
long serpent, the Dragon ; another, Grumian , 
the deceiver ; another, El Athik , the fraudful; 
another, El Asieh , the humbled, brought down; 
another, Gianser , the punished enemy. Roots 
corresponding to all these words are contain¬ 
ed in the Hebrew Scriptures, where they are 
used in the senses here given. 

What shall we say, then, to these things ? 
Mythology says the Dragon is the power that 
guarded the golden apples in the famous 
Garden of the Hesperides, hindering men 
from getting them. Is not this the Devil, the 
old Serpent, the Dragon, who has thrust him¬ 
self in to keep mortal men from the fruits of 
the Tree of Life ? Mythology says this Drag¬ 
on was slain by Hercules. And is not Her¬ 
cules the astronomic sign of the promised 
Seed of the woman, the One to come as the 
Serpent-bruiser, and who stands pictured in 
his constellation with His foot on the head of 
the Dragon ? Other myths represent the 
Dragon as guarding the sacred well, and 
slaying those who came to draw from it, but 
was slain by the arrows of Cadmus, who had 
to suffer for it, indeed, but by Minerva’s aid 


CADMUS. 


161 


freed the way to the well, and built there a 
noble city. But is not Cadmus the hero sent 
to seek his sister who was lost, and the same 
who was offered as the giver of victory to the 
people who should accept him as their com¬ 
mander ; just as Christ is come to seek and 
to save that which was lost, through suffering 
and divinity vanquishing Satan, opening access 
to the sacred well of the waters of life, build¬ 
ing about it the Zion of His Church, and con¬ 
ducting those who take Him as their Lord and 
King to the blessedness of triumph and ever¬ 
lasting peace ? Ay, verily, these signs in the 
constellations are but another version of what 
was written by the prophets and set forth in 
the Scriptures as the true and only hope of 
man. 

“ Most wondrous Book! The Author God himself; 

The subject, God and man, salvation, life 
And death—eternal life, eternal death. 

. . . On every line 
Marked with the seal of high divinity, 

On every leaf bedewed with drops of love 
Divine, and with the eternal heraldry 
And signature of God Almighty stamped 
From first to last.” 

14 * 


L 


3Lccture JSebenti). 


DEATH AND NEW LIFE. 

John 12 : 24: “ Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a com of 
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it 
bringeth forth much fruit.’’ 

I N connection with these words I continue 
the study of that evangelic record which 
we find written on the stars in the ancient 
astronomy. 

As far as we have gone in these investiga¬ 
tions, four signs of the Zodiac, with their ac¬ 
companying Decans, have been discussed— 
Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. Eight 
more of these signs accordingly remain to be 
considered; and to these, in their order, I 
propose that we now direct our attention. 

Order of the Signs. 

Perhaps this is as good a place as any that 
may offer to remark the fact that these twelve 
signs of the Solar Zodiac divide themselves 
into three distinct groups, each group having 
its own distinct subject. The first group, 
162 


THE SIGN OF CAPRICORNUS. 163 

consisting of the four signs which have al¬ 
ready been before us, relates to the Person, 
Work, and Triumph of the illustrious Re¬ 
deemer, with special reference to himself. 
The next succeeding group, consisting of 
Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries, with 
their several Decans, relates to the Fruits of 
His Work and Mediatorship—the formation, 
condition, and destiny of the Church, or that 
body of people spiritually born to Him through 
faith, and made partakers of the benefits of 
His redemptive administrations; whilst the 
third and last group relates to the final Con¬ 
summation of the whole in the united glory 
of the Redeemer and the redeemed, and the 
exalted condition of things which the Con¬ 
summation is to realize. All this will be more 
clearly brought out as we proceed. At pres¬ 
ent we make our entrance upon the second 
or middle group. 

The Sign of Capricornus. 

Here we have the picture of a fallen goat 
with the vigorous tail of a fish—half goat and 
half fish. 

It may seem singular and far-fetched to 
connect the text I have read with such a figure. 
A little consideration, however, will show that 


164 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

the subject-matter in both is in fact identical, 
though the particular imagery is entirely dif¬ 
ferent. That of the text is the image which 
we had in Virgo , where the illustrious Son 
of the virgin is likened to a grain of corn or 
seed, denoted by Sflica, the ear of wheat. It 
was necessary for this seed or grain of wheat 
to fall into the ground and die in order to 
reach its intended fruitfulness, which fruitful¬ 
ness arises directly out of such falling and 
dying. The meaning of the passage is, that 
Christ was to die as a sacrifice, and that by 
virtue of His sacrificial death salvation was to 
come to man and the congregation of saved 
ones formed. As Wordsworth expresses it, 
“ He compares himself to a grain of corn, 
which would be buried by the unbelief of the 
Jews, but would fructify in the faith of the 
Gentiles. As much as to say, I will die, that 
they may live. My death will be their birthl* 
As the phoenix was said to arise out of the 
ashes of its consumed predecessor, so the 
Church, or congregation of saints, rises out 
of the death of Christ, sacrificed for the sins 
of the world. This is everywhere the teach¬ 
ing of the Scriptures, and nowhere more 
pointedly and graphically than in this text. 
And when we translate this idea into the im- 


TYPE AND ANT/TYPE. 


165 


agery of the fifth sign of the Zodiac, we find 
another very graphic and much older picture 
of precisely the same thing. 

Type and Antitype. 

First of all, we have here the figure of a goat. 
This is a sacrificial animal. God commanded 
the children of Israel, saying, “ Take ye a kid 
of the goats for a sin-offering” (Lev. 9:31). 
So Aaron “ took the goat, which was the sin- 
offering for the people, and slew it, and of¬ 
fered it for sin” (Lev. 9: 15). And of the 
goat of the sin-offering Moses said, “ It is 
most holy, and God hath given it you to bear 
the iniquity of the congregation, to make 
atonement for them before the Lord” (Lev. 
10: 16, 17). 

In the next place, this goat is fallen down 
in the attitude of dying. His one leg is 
doubled under his body, and the other is pow¬ 
erless to lift him up. His head is drooping 
and sinking in death. This is the identical 
falling and dying of Christ as the sin-offering 
to which He refers in the text. It is the same 
Seed of the woman, in the attitude and con¬ 
dition of a sacrifice for sin. Christ surely 
was “wounded for our transgressions” and 
“ bruised for our iniquities.” “ He was cut 


166 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

off out of the land of the living: for the 
transgression of my people was He stricken.” 
As the Head of the flock He suffered in their 
stead, and laid down His life in sacrifice that 
they might live. And here it is written on 
the stars from the earliest ages, and with a 
vividness of pictorial representation which 
no one can contemplate without realizing that 
the picture is intensely striking. 

The names in this sign also point to the 
same thought and significance. Gedi and 
Dabih are the most prominent stars in this 
constellation; and in Hebrew, Arabic, and Syr¬ 
iac these names mean, the cut-off, the hewn- 
down , the sacrifice slain. Other stars in the 
same constellation have names of similar im¬ 
port, signifying the slaying , the record of the 
cutting off. Even the elements of the name 
of the sign as we still have it from the Latins, 
Capricornus , mean not only the goat, but 
atonement , sinking or bowed in death. And 
if there is any significance whatever in these 
celestial pictures, we have in this sign the 
symbol of sacrificial death, which is the exact 
idea of the text. 

The Church. 

But it is at the same time a picture of an- 


THE CHURCH. 


167 


other kind of life, developed out of this sac¬ 
rificial death, and vitally conjoined with it. 
The body of the fallen and dying goat ter¬ 
minates in the body and tail of a vigorous 
fish. The living fish thus takes its being out 
of the dying goat, and has all its life and 
vigor from thence. Accordingly, the Coptic 
name of this sign signifies the station or man- 
sion of bearing. In addition to the falling and 
dying, it is the sign of a mystic procreation 
and bringing forth. That which is brought 
forth is a fish , which is again a familiar and 
well-understood sacred symbol. 

When Jesus called and appointed His first 
ministers He said, “ I will make you fishers 
of men” (Matt. 4:19). So when God said 
He will bring the children of Israel again into 
their own land, His word was, “ I will send 
for many fishers , and they shall fish them ” 
(Jer. 16: 15, 16). So in Ezekiel’s vision of 
the holy waters the word was, “ And there 
shall be a very great multitude of fish , because 
these waters shall come thither” (Ez. 47 : 1-9). 
Christ speaks of His saved ones as “born of 
water ” (John 3:5). In the parable of the 
drag-net and in the miraculous draughts of 
fishes God’s people are contemplated as fishes. 
Hence, in both Testaments fishes stand as the 


168 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


symbol of believers. “Fishes signify regen¬ 
erate persons,” says Dr. Gill. “ Fish are 
those that are wrought upon and brought in 
by the Gospel, and are so called for six rea¬ 
sons,” says Greenhill. “ Fish are the men 
who have attained to life by the Messianic 
salvation,” says Dr. Hengstenberg. The 
early Christians were accustomed to call be¬ 
lievers Ichthues and Pisces —that is .fishes. In 
the name and titles of our Lord—“ Jesus 
Christ , the Son of God , our Saviour ”—the in¬ 
itials in Greek form a word or name which 
signifies a fish , and hence the Fathers techni¬ 
cally designated Christ as the mystic divine 
Fish, who in the waters of baptism begets 
the multitude of fishes—the congregation of 
His people. Christ is therefore at once the 
sacrificial goat of the sin-offering and the be¬ 
getter of a body of reborn men, the Church, 
the congregation of the quickened and saved. 
The diction of the Scriptures thus answers 
exactly to the figure in this sign, which is the 
dying goat developed into a fish body. 

The Mystical Union. 

Even the great New-Testament doctrine 
of the Mystical Union of believers with their 
Saviour is here most strikingly signified. As 


THE MYSTICAL UNION. 


169 


men naturally are but reproductions and per¬ 
petuations of Adam, and live his life, so 
Christ’s people are the reproduction and per¬ 
petuation of Christ, living His life. They 
are in Him as the branch is in the vine. 
They are repeatedly called His body, one 
with Him, “members of His body and of 
His flesh and of His bones.” And so close 
and real is their life-connection and incorpo¬ 
ration with Him that they are in a sense 
sometimes called “ Christ.” What, then, 
could better symbolize this than the sign be¬ 
fore us ? This goat and fish are one—one 
being, the life of the dying reproduced and 
continued in a spiritual product which is part 
of one and the same body. The goat of sac¬ 
rifice sinks into a new creation, which is yet 
an organic part of itself. The image is gro¬ 
tesque, and has no prototype in Nature, but 
it is true, exact and graphic. The forgive¬ 
ness and regeneration of men, and their in¬ 
corporation with Christ, is something wholly 
above Nature—something altogether mirac¬ 
ulous—which could not be adequately signi¬ 
fied by any natural symbols ; and so, as the 
double nature of the Redeemer himself was 
denoted by an arbitrary figure, half horse and 
half man, so the relation between Him as the 


15 


170 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Sin-bearer and His saved people, who live 
by virtue of His death, is denoted by another 
arbitrary figure, made up of a dying goat and 
a living fish. Nor is it in the power of hu¬ 
man genius or imagination to devise another 
figure capable of setting forth more simply 
and truly the great and glorious mystery. 

The Myths. 

The pagan myths concerning this sign cor¬ 
respond with these interpretations. This goat 
is everywhere regarded as Pan, Bacchus, or 
some divine personage. How he came to 
have the form of a goat is explained after 
this fashion : The gods were feasting near a 
great river, when suddenly the terrible Ty- 
phon came upon them, compelling them to 
assume other shapes in order to escape his 
fury. Bacchus took the form of a goat and 
plunged into the river, and that part of his 
body which was under the water took the form 
of a fish. To commemorate the occurrence 
Jupiter placed him in the heavens in his met¬ 
amorphosed shape. The story is absurd, but 
through it shines something of the great orig¬ 
inal idea. It was to secure deliverance from 
the fury of God’s wrath upon sin, and from 
the ruinous power of the Devil, that the Son 


THE MYTHS. 


171 

of God took upon Him the form of a Sin- 
bearer and Sacrifice, and in this character was 
plunged into the deep waters of death. It 
was by His taking of this form, and His sink¬ 
ing in death as our substitute and propitiation, 
that life came to those who were under the 
power of death, whereby they became a liv¬ 
ing part of Him, never more to be separated 
from Him. The myth is only a paganized 
and corrupted paraphrase of the original 
reference which the Spirit of sacred proph¬ 
ecy had written in the primeval astronomy, 
whence the whole conception originated. 

Dagon, the half-fish god of the Philistines, 
and Oannes, the half-fish god of the Babylo¬ 
nians, also connect with this Zodiacal Capri- 
cornus, and have embodied in them the same 
original thought as well as figure. Philo tells 
us that Dagon means fruitfulness , the seed-pro¬ 
ducing; and so Christ is the Seed, the Corn 
of wheat, fallen and dying in the goat, but 
producing the living fish, the Church, which 
is the travail of His soul, the true fruit of 
His atonement. Eusebius says that Dagon 
was the god of husbandry, the god of seeds 
and harvests. Pluche says that Dagon among 
the Philistines was the same as Horus among 
the Egyptians; and Horus takes the charac- 


172 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ter of the meek and silent Sufferer from whom 
comes the horn of blessing and plenty. Dag- 
on had the human form in place of the goat, 
but that was only a further interpretation of 
the meaning; for the goat part of Capri- 
cornus stands for the Seed of the woman, and 
so is in reality the man Christ Jesus. 

Berosus speaks of Oannes as likewise half 
man and half fish. Some of the ancient pic¬ 
tures of him still remain, in which he is fig¬ 
ured as a great fish outside, but under and 
within the fish, and joined with it as its more 
vital interior, was a tall and vigorous man, 
standing upright in great dignity, with one 
hand lifted up as if calling for attention, and 
in the other carrying a basket or satchel as if 
filled with treasure. He is fabled as having 
risen out of the sea to teach the primitive 
Babylonians the secrets of wisdom, particu¬ 
larly the elements of culture, civilization, and 
law, organizing them into a prosperous com¬ 
monwealth. An ancient fragment says of 
him: “He grew not old in wisdom, and the 
wise people with his wisdom he filled.” The 
representation is throughout in full accord 
with what I have been saying of Capricornus. 
There is a coming up out of the deep in 
glorious life, and a blessed fruitfulness brought 


SPIRITUAL CONCEPTIONS. 173 

forth thereby, and that fruitfulness in the form 
of instructed, wise, and disciplined people. It 
is the fallen Seed of the woman risen up from 
death after having gone down into the invis¬ 
ible and unknown world, begetting and cre¬ 
ating a new order among men—the dying 
Seed issuing in the believing body, the Church, 
in which He still lives and walks and teaches 
and blesses. The myth embodies the exact 
story of the sign. 

Spiritual Conceptions. 

Moreover, the very complexity of the figure 
of Capricornus, at first so confusing and hard 
to construe, conducts us into still further par¬ 
ticularities of evangelic truth. As far as we 
have been looking at it, we see the literal 
death of one being issuing in the spiritual life 
of other beings, of whose new life He is the 
life. It is Christ in the one case corporeally 
sacrificed, and His people mystically resurrect¬ 
ed to newness of life in the other. But along 
with this goes a reflex which it is important 
for us to observe, as it brings out some of the 
deep practical spiritualities of true religion. 
Of course, the rising of the fishes out of the 
dying goat implies the literal and potent res¬ 
urrection of Christ himself as the Begetter 


i74 the gospel in the stars. 

and Giver of this spiritual resurrection to His 
people ; for if He did not rise, then no preach¬ 
ing or believing would avail to bring us to life 
or salvation. But as we rise to spiritual life 
through the power of His resurrection, so 
there is also implied a dying with Him in or¬ 
der to rise with Him; for there is no resurrec¬ 
tion where there has been no dying. We look 
for a resurrection of the body, because there 
is first a death of the body. And as God’s 
people are partakers of a mystic or spiritual 
resurrection, there goes before it a correspond¬ 
ing death. That death out of which their new 
life comes through and in Christ is twofold. 
It is first a deadness in sin—existence indeed, 
but morally and spiritually a mere carcass, 
with no life-standing to the law or any practi¬ 
cal spiritual life toward God and heaven—a 
life that is nothing but spiritual death and cor¬ 
ruption under sentence of eternal death. In 
the next place, it is death to sin, both as to its 
penalty and power, a cessation of the mere 
carnal life and of further existence under con¬ 
demnation. Now,, the great office of religion, 
through the Seed of the woman and His sac¬ 
rificial offering of himself to expiate our sins, 
is to bring death to this old life in sin and 
death, and by this wounding, slaying and put- 


SPIRITUAL CONCER TIONS. 17 5 

ting off of the old man of corruption, to gen¬ 
erate, evolve, sustain, teach and train the new 
man, which is renewed after the image of 
Christ’s own resurrection, and which beams 
with better knowledge and true holiness. 
Christ corporeally dies for us, and we mysti¬ 
cally die to the old death-life with, in, and by 
virtue of Him. We die to the death-penalty 
which holds us whilst in the mere carnal life, 
and put it clean off from us for ever, in the 
atoning sacrifice of Christ, by accepting Him 
and believing in Him as our Surety and Pro¬ 
pitiation ; and in really taking Him as our 
Redeemer and Hope there is such a force in 
our faith, and it is in itself such a living and 
active power, that in the very exercise of it 
we necessarily die to the pursuit and service 
of sin. In other words, beginning to live in 
Christ, we begin to die to the old carnal life. 
The one is the correlative of the other. Hence 
the apostolic word: “ How shall we that are 
dead to sin live any longer therein ? Know 
ye not that so many of us as were baptized 
into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? 
Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism 
into death; that like as Christ was raised up 
from the dead by the glory of the Father, 
even so we also should walk in newness of 


176 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

life, . . . knowing this, that our old man is 
crucified with Him, that the body of sin might 
be destroyed, that henceforth we should not 
serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from 
sin ” (Rom. 6 : 2-7). 

This, then, is the meaning of the picture: 
The Seed of the woman takes our death-pen¬ 
alty on himself, and dies a sacrifice for our 
sins, so that believers die with Him to all the 
old life of condemnation and sin ; out of this 
death He springs up in resurrection-power, 
in which believers rise with Him by being 
brought to know and accept the truth and to 
follow His teachings in lively hope of a still 
further rising in immortal glory at the last; 
in all of which we behold the much fruit yield¬ 
ed by the seed of wheat falling to the ground 
and dying. 

And with these presentations agree the ac¬ 
companying side-pieces or Decans. 

The Arrow. 

The first is Sagitta, the shot and killing 
arrow . It appears naked and alone. It has 
left the bow, and is speeding to its aim. It is 
a heavenly arrow, and He who shoots it is 
invisible. There is a majesty and a mystery 
about it which startles and awes. It is the 


THE ARROW. 


1 77 


death-arrow of almighty justice, which goes 
forth from the throne against all unrighteous¬ 
ness and sin. It is that death-inflicting instru¬ 
ment which comes with resistless force and 
sharpness against a world that lieth in sin, 
and which pierces the spotless Son of God 
as found in the place of guilty and condemned 
man. The execution it does is shown in the 
fallen and dying goat. It is the arrow of di¬ 
vine justice and condemnation upon sin pier¬ 
cing through the body and soul of the meek 
Lamb of God, who agreed to bear our sins 
and answer for them. 

In the thirty-eighth Psalm we have this very 
arrow of God sticking fast in the body of the 
mysterious Sufferer, wounding His flesh and 
His bones, and completely overwhelming 
Him. He is troubled and bowed down, as 
under a crushing burden. His heart panteth, 
his strength faileth, the light of his eyes fades 
out. Not only is he the persecuted object of 
man’s hatred, but shut up within the strong 
bars of divine judgment. It was divine grace 
that prepared and shot that arrow against the 
person of the blameless One; but, being found 
in the room and stead of sinners, God’s holy 
vengeance could not hold back for the sparing 
even of the only-begotten of the Father, so 

M 


173 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

full of grace and truth. Christ came into the 
world to die for it; and toward this lowest 
deep His steps daily led Him as He looked 
onward to the harvest that was being sown 
amid these tears. It would seem almost as 
if the song of the Psalmist had been copied 
direct from what is thus pictured in these 
signs. 

But this Arrow doubtless covers a further 
idea. There is a spiritual piercing and slay¬ 
ing in the case of those who come to new life 
in Christ, akin to the piercing and slaying of 
Christ himself. Sharp and hurtful words are 
compared to arrows. And of this character 
are the words of God as pronounced upon the 
wicked, judging and condemning them for 
their sins, bringing them down from their 
lofty self-security, and killing out of them 
the vain imaginings in which they live. Isaiah 
speaks of this sort of shaft or arrow in the 
Lord’s quiver—the arrow of the Word—the 
arrow of conviction of sin, righteousness, and 
judgment—a wounding and killing arrow 
which enters into men’s souls, and makes 
humble penitents of them, that they may 
come to life in Christ. The death of Christ 
for our sins also takes the form of a word, 
preaching, testimony, and argument, even the 


TIIE PIERCED EAGLE . 


179 


preaching of the Cross, to kill the life of sin 
and to cause men to die unto it; so that the 
very arrow of sovereign justice which drank 
up the life of Christ as our Substitute and 
Propitiation passes through Him to pierce 
also those whose life in sin cost Him all this 
humiliation and pain ; also killing them to that 
ill and condemned life that they may live the 
Christ-life as His renewed, justified, and re¬ 
deemed children. 

Thus the Arrow fills out precisely the same 
ideas which we find symbolized in the sign of 
Capricornus. 

The Pierced Eagle. 

The second Decan adds still further to the 
clearness and certainty of .the meaning. This 
is the constellation of Aquila, the pierced, 
wounded, and falling eagle. It is but another 
picture of the grain of wheat falling and dy¬ 
ing. The principal star in this constellation 
is of the first magnitude, and is the star by 
which the position of the moon—also a symbol 
of the Church—is noted for the computation 
of longitude at sea. Its name is Al Tair , 
which in Arabic means the wounded. The 
name of the second star in the same language 
means the scarlet-colored—covered with blood. 


l8o THE GOSPEL IN 7HE STARS. 

The name of the third means the torn , whilst 
that of another means the wounded in the heel. 
It is simply impossible to explain how all these 
names got into this sign and its Decans, ex¬ 
cept by intention to denote the great fact of 
the promised Saviour’s death. 

The myths explain this eagle in different 
ways. Some say it is Merops, king of Cos, 
the husband of Ethemea, who lamented for 
his condemned wife, and was transformed 
into an eagle and placed among the stars. 
Some say it is the form assumed by Jupiter 
in carrying off Ganymedes, whilst others de¬ 
scribe it as the eagle which brought nectar to 
Jupiter while he lay concealed in the Cretan 
cave by reason of the fury and wrath of Sat¬ 
urn. In short, pagan wisdom did not know 
what it meant, though holding it in marked 
regard. And yet, as Christ loved the Church, 
and gave himself for it, and reigns in glory 
for its good—as He humbled himself in obe¬ 
dience to death that He might take to him¬ 
self a glorious Church to serve the eternal 
Father in immortal blessedness—as He was 
really brought down into the cave of death, 
whence He was revived by heavenly virtues 
after the exhaustion of the fierce wrath of in¬ 
sulted sovereignty,—we can still see some dim 


THE PIERCED EAGLE. l8l 

reflections of the original truth and meaning 
even in these confused and contradictory 
fables. 

The eagle is one of the biblical symbols of 
Christ. “Ye have seen what I did unto the 
Egyptians, and how I bare yon on eagles' wings 
and brought you unto myself ” (Ex. 19:4), 
“As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth 
over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, 
taketh them, beareth them on her wings; so 
the Lord alone did lead him” (Deut. 32 : 11, 
12). The eagle is a royal bird, and the nat¬ 
ural enemy of the serpent. It is elevated in 
its habits, strong, and swift. It is very careful 
and tender toward its young, and is said to 
tear itself to nourish them with its own blood 
when all other means fail. And here is the 
noble Eagle, the promised Seed of the wo¬ 
man, pierced, torn, and bleeding, that those 
begotten in His image may be saved from 
death, sheltered, protected, and made to live 
for ever. 

But, as in the case of the Arrow, so also 
in this case, the figure will admit the further 
idea which takes in the proud sinner, pierced 
by the arrow of the Word and brought down 
into the humiliation of penitence, even to death 
and despair as to all his former hopes in him- 
16 


182 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

self. And until the high-soaring- children of 
pride are thus brought down by the arrow of 
'God’s Word, and fall completely out of the 
heaven of their dreams, conformably to Christ’s 
death for them, there can come to them no 
right life. Paul was alive without the law 
once, and a very high-soaring and bloodthirsty 
eagle ; but when the commandment came, sin 
revived, and he died —died the death that could 
alone bring him to right life. 

The Dolphin. 

The third Decan of this sign is the beauti¬ 
ful cluster of little stars named Delphinus . 
It is the figure of a vigorous fish leaping up¬ 
ward. Taken in connection with the dying 
goat, it conveys the idea of springing up 
again out of death. Our great Sin-bearer 
not only died for our sins, but He also rose 
again, thereby becoming “ the first-fruits of 
them that slept.” As the Head and Repre¬ 
sentative of His Church, He is the principal 
Fish in the congregation of the fishes. Their 
quickening, life, and spiritual resurrection rest 
on His coming forth again after having gone 
down into the waves of death for their sakes. 
Put to death in the flesh, He was quickened 
by the Spirit, and in His quickening and res- 


THE DOLPHIN. 183 

urrection all His people share. Their sins 
having been buried in His death, their life is 
by virtue of His resurrection, that “like as 
He was raised from the dead, so we should 
walk in newness of life,” ever advancing to¬ 
ward a still more complete resurrection to 
come. The corn of wheat falls into the ground 
and dies, but from that death there is a spring¬ 
ing up again to the intended fruitfulness. 
Christ dies and rises again, and His people, 
slain in their old carnal confidence, absolved 
by His suffering of the penalty due to them, 
and planting themselves solely upon Him as 
their Lord and Redeemer, rise with him into 
the new, spiritual, and eternal life. The pic¬ 
ture of the dying goat, with its after-part a 
living fish, implied this, but the nature of the 
transition could not be so well expressed in 
that figure by itself. Hence the additional 
explanatory figure of an upspringing fish, to 
show more vividly that the transition is by- 
means of resurrection to a new life of anoth¬ 
er style. We thus have the vivid symbol of 
both the resurrection of the slain Saviour as 
the Head of the Church, and the included 
new creation of His people, who rise to their 
new life through His death and resurrection. 

In ancient mythology the dolphin was the 


184 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

most sacred and honored of fishes, doubtless 
because of its place among the ancient con¬ 
stellations, though the myths representing it 
are very different. It was specially sacred to 
Apollo, and its name was added to his—some 
say, because he slew the dragon; others say, 
because in the form of a dolphin he showed 
the Cretan colonists the way to Delphi, the 
most celebrated place in the Grecian world 
and the seat of the most famous of all the 
oracles. According to some accounts, it was a 
dolphin which brought about the marriage of 
the unwilling Amphitrite with the god of the 
sea, and for this it received place among the 
stars. The muddy waters reflect something 
of the original idea. Christ was the true Son 
of Deity. It was He who broke the Dragon’s 
power by submitting to become the atoning 
Mediator. “ In all things it behoved Him to 
be made like unto His brethren, that He 
might be a merciful and faithful high priest 
to make reconciliation for the sins of the peo¬ 
ple.” By His death and resurrection He has 
opened and shown the way by which His peo¬ 
ple come to the blessed city of which Jehovah 
is the light. By His mediation He has brought 
about a marriage between men in flight from 
their Lord and Him who loved them with a 


SALVATION THROUGH ATONEMENT. 185 

love that passeth knowledge. And in believ¬ 
ing foretoken of all this His sign, as the Head 
of His people, was thus placed in the heavens, 
where it stands as another form of the parable 
of the buried corn of wheat rising in new life, 
of which all who are His are partakers. 

Salvation through Atonement. 

Capricornus is thus the illustrious bearer 
and witness of the most vital evangelical 
truths. There is no more central or import¬ 
ant doctrine of our holy faith than this, that 
the pure and sinless Son of God, having as¬ 
sumed our nature for the purpose, did really 
and truly take the sins of the world upon 
Him, and bore the agonies of an accursed 
death as the sacrifice and propitiation for our 
guilt. Whatever difficulty human reason may 
have in receiving it, it is the very heart and 
substance of the Gospel tidings, on which all 
the hopes of fallen man repose. “ Thus it is 
written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, 
and to rise from the dead the third day, that 
repentance and remission of sins might be 
preached in His name” (Luke 24:46, 47). 
This “ first of all ” Paul preached, and Chris¬ 
tians received and held, “ how that Christ died 
for our sins according to the Scriptures, and 


186 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

that He was buried, and that He rose again 
the third day according to the Scriptures ” 
(i Cor. 15 : 3, 4). “Forasmuch as the chil¬ 
dren are partakers of flesh and blood, He also 
himself likewise took part of the same, that 
through death He might destroy him that had 
the power of death, that is, the Devil, and de¬ 
liver them who through fear of death were all 
their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2: 
14, 15). Hence the highest apostolic song on 
earth is that led off by the holy seer of Pat- 
mos: “Unto Him that loved us, and washed 
us from our sins in His own blood, and hath 
made us kings and priests unto God and His 
Father ; to Him be glory and dominion for 
ever and everwhilst the saints in heaven, 
in devoutest adoration, fall down before the 
Lamb, and cry, “ Thou art worthy to take the 
book, and to open the seals thereof; for Thou 
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy 
blood ” (Rev. 1 : 5, 6; 5 : 9). 

And how cheering and confirmatory to our 
faith to see and know that what Prophets and 
Apostles have been testifying on earth the 
heavens themselves have been proclaiming 
for all these ages! How assuring to know 
that what we build our hope on now is the 
same that the holy patriarchs from Adam’s 


SAL VA T10N THROUGH A TONEMENT. 187 

time built on as their hope and joy! They 
believed and expected, and hung their faith 
and testimony on the stars, that in the fulness 
of time the Seed of the woman should come, 
and bow himself in death as the Sin-offering 
for a guilty world, and rise again in life and 
fruitfulness of saving virtues, whereby His 
Church should rise with Him, sharing at once 
the merit of His atonement and the power of 
His resurrection, and thus live and reign in 
inseparable union with himself in life and glo¬ 
ry everlasting. Every September midnight 
of every year for all these centuries has ac¬ 
cordingly displayed the sign of it in the mid¬ 
dle of the sky, and held it forth to the eyes 
of mortals as the blessed hope and only ref¬ 
uge of a condemned world, at the same time 
that it marks the point of change in year and 
climate, and when the darkness is the great¬ 
est opens the southern gateway of the Sun. 

Yes, this strange goat-fish, dying in its 
head, but living in its after-part—falling as 
an eagle pierced and wounded by the arrow 
of death, but springing up from the dark 
waves with the matchless vigor and beauty 
of the dolphin—sinking under sin’s condem¬ 
nation, but rising again as sin’s conqueror— 
developing new life out of death, and herald- 


188 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


ing a new spring-time out of December’s 
long drear nights—was framed by no blind 
chance of man. The story which it tells is 
the old, old story on which hangs the only 
availing hope that ever came, or ever can 
come, to Adam’s race. To what it signifies 
we are for ever shut up as the only saving 
faith. In that dying Seed of the woman we 
must see our Sin-bearer and the atonement 
for our guilt, or die ourselves unpardoned 
and unsanctified. Through His death and 
blood-shedding we must find our life, or the 
true life, which alone is life, we never can 
have. 

“ The wheaten com which falls and dies. 

In autumn’s plenty richly waves; 

So, from the loathsome place of graves, 

With Christ, our Elder, we may rise. 

“ From death comes life! The hand of God 
This direst curse to good transforms; 

So purest air is born of storms; 

So bursts the harvest from the clod.” 


Hectare (PigijHj. 


THE LIVING WATERS. 


John 7:37: “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and 
drink.” 


NE of the gladdest things in our world 



is water. In whatever shape it pre¬ 
sents itself, it is full of interest and beauty. 
Whether trickling down in pearly mist from 
the fragrant distilleries of Nature, or rippling 
in merry windings through the grassy dell or 
shady grove ; whether jetting from the rocky 
precipices of the mountain, or gathered into 
the rolling plains of ocean ; whether spark¬ 
ling in the ice-gem, or pouring in the cata¬ 
ract; whether coming in silver drops from 
the bow-spanned heavens, or forcing itself 
out in glassy purity from the dark veins of 
the earth; whether in the feathery crystals 
of the snow-flakes, or grandly moving in the 
volume of the ample river,—it is everywhere 
and always beautiful. Next to light, it is 
God’s brightest element; and light itself is 
as much at home in it as in its own native 


189 


I90 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

sky. Sometimes, in some connections, it is 
the symbol of evil, but even there it is the ex¬ 
pression of life and energy. Nor is it much 
to be wondered that in the hot Orient men 
were moved to deify fountains and erect vo¬ 
tive temples over them, as though they were 
gracious divinities. The preciousness of 
bright, fresh waters to parched and needy 
man is beyond all compare. Where such 
waters come they bring gladness and rejuve¬ 
nation, luxuriousness and plenty. Where 
they pour forth, sinking strength recovers, 
dying life rekindles, perishing Nature revives, 
a thousand delights are awakened, and every¬ 
thing rejoices and sings with new-begotten 
life. 

Such an object in Nature could not fail to 
be seized by the sacred writers to represent 
the life-giving purity and regenerating power 
of divine grace and salvation. Accordingly, 
we find it one of the common and most lively 
images under which the Scriptures set forth 
the cleansing, renewing, and saving virtues 
that come to man in God’s redemptive ad¬ 
ministrations. Thus the Spirit in Baalam’s 
unwilling lips described the goodliness of Is¬ 
rael’s tents “ as the valleys spread forth, as 
gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of 


THE LIVING WATERS. I9I 

lign-aloes which the Lord hath planted, as 
cedar trees beside the waters.” Thus when 
the inspired Moses began his song of God’s 
grace to Israel’s tribes, he said, “ My doctrine 
shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil 
as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender 
herb, and as the showers upon the grass.” 
The good man is “ like a tree planted by the 
rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit 
in his season, whose leaf also shall not with¬ 
er.” The joy of Messiah’s day is the open¬ 
ing of “ a fountain to the house of David, and 
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and 
for uncleanness.” Ezekiel beholds the bless¬ 
ed influences of the sanctuary as issuing wa¬ 
ters—waters to the ankles, waters to the 
knees, waters to the loins, waters to swim in 
—a river of waters. Jesus himself discoursed 
to the woman of Samaria of the saving bene¬ 
fits of His grace as “living water”—water 
which slakes all thirst for ever. The people 
of God are likened to fishes, whose life-ele¬ 
ment is water. And so in the text the Saviour 
compares His redeeming virtue and grace to 
water, and says, “ If any man thirst , let him 
come unto Me , and drink!' 

In those signs, then, which the primeval pa¬ 
triarchs hung upon the stars as everlasting 


192 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

witnesses of God’s gracious purposes to be 
achieved through the Seed of the woman, we 
would certainly expect to find some great 
prominence given to this same significant 
symbol. And as we would anticipate, so do 
we really find, especially in the sixth sign of 
the Zodiac, which we now come to consider. 

The Sign of Aquarius. 

Here is the figure of a man with a great 
urn upon his arm, from which he is pouring 
out from the heavens a stream of water which 
flows with all the volume of a swollen river. 
Mythology calls him Ganymedes , the bright, 
glorified, and happy One—the Phrygian youth 
so beautiful on earth that the great King and 
Father of gods carried him away to heaven on 
eagles’ wings to live in glory with immortals. 
Some say that he came to an untimely death in 
this world; and the stories in general combine 
in representing him as the beloved and favor¬ 
ite of the divine Father, exalted to glory and 
made the chosen cup-bearer of the Deity. 
Classic art portrays him as a most beautiful 
young man, sometimes carried by an eagle, 
sometimes ministering drink to an eagle from 
a bowl which he bears, and again as the 
particular companion of the eternal Father. 


THE SIGN OF AQUARIUS. 193 

Amid all these earthly varnishes which pa¬ 
ganism has daubed over the picture we still 
may see the sacred image shining through. 
The true Ganymedes is the beautiful Lord 
Jesus, “the chief among ten thousand, and 
altogether lovely.” Cut off was He in His 
early manhood, but divinely lifted up again, 
Dome away to heaven on unfailing wings, 
seated in brightness and glory beside the 
everlasting Father, loved and approved as 
God’s only-begotten Son, made the sovereign 
Lord and Dispenser of grace and salvation, 
and by His merit procuring and pouring out 
the very “river of water of life.” The urn 
He holds is the exhaustless reservoir of all 
the fulness of renewing, comforting, and sanc¬ 
tifying power. And the turning of that holy 
urn for its contents to flow down into the 
world below is the precise picture of the ful¬ 
filment of those old prophetic promises: “ I 
will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and 
floods upon the dry ground: I will pour out 
my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing 
upon thine offspring;” “I will pour out my 
Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your 
daughters shall prophesy, and your old men 
shall dream dreams, and your young men 
shall see visions ” (Isa. 44:3; Joel 2 : 28) . 

17 n 


194 7 'HE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

The name of the principal star in this sign 
—Sd ad al Melik —means Record of the out¬ 
pouring. The Coptic, Greek, and Latin 
names of the sign itself signify The Pourer- 
forth of water , The exalted Waterman , as 
though specially to designate Him who says, 
“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me , and 
drink I 

Promise of the Holy Spirit. 

When Christ was about to leave the world 
He said to His followers, “It is expedient for 
you that I go away; for if I go not away, the 
Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I 
depart, I will send Him unto you. . . . He 
will guide you into all truth. . . . He will 
show you things to come. . . . He shall glo¬ 
rify me: for He shall receive of mine, and 
shall show it unto you” (John 16). That 
promise included all the divine life-power 
issuing from the mediation of Christ for the 
illumination, regeneration, and salvation of men 
—all the renewing, cleansing, comforting, and 
energizing grace for the gathering of the elect 
and the bringing of believers to eternal life 
and glory. The Holy Ghost was in the world 
from the beginning, but here was the promise 
of a new and enlarged grant and endowment, 


THE SIGN OF AQUARIUS. 1 95 

to lift, nourish, and distinguish Christian be¬ 
lievers. The same was gloriously fulfilled on 
the day of Pentecost, when “ suddenly there 
came a sound from heaven as of a rushine 
mighty wind, and filled all the house where 
they were sitting; and they were all filled 
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak 
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them 
utterance.” And when the Jews mocked and 
derided, the sacred explanation was that Jesus, 
being raised up again from the dead and ex¬ 
alted to the right hand of God, and having so 
received of the Father, was now the Giver 
and Shedder-forth of this marvellous power. 
He is thus presented to our contemplation as 
the glorified Pourer-forth from heaven of the 
blessed waters of life and salvation; in other 
words, the true Aquarius, of whom the picture 
in the sign was the prophecy and foreshowing. 

Wherever the Scriptures represent the 
Spirit and grace of God under the imagery 
of waters, the idea of unfailing supply and 
plenteous abundance is also invariably con¬ 
nected with it. Sometimes it is a plentiful 
rain ; sometimes it is a voluminous fountain ; 
sometimes it is a great river flowing with ful¬ 
ness that supplies a thousand life-freighted 
rivulets. Inspiration tells us that the rock 


196 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

smitten by Moses was the type of the smiting 
of Christ and the blessings proceeding from 
Him ; but in that case the waters “ gitshed; 
they ran in dry places like a river.” Isaiah 
sings: “ The glorious Lord will be unto us a 
place of broad rivers and streams.” Ezekiel’s 
river was deep and broad, healing even the 
Dead Sea with the abundance of its flow. 
Zechariah says these heavenly waters flow 
out to both seas, and continue without cessa¬ 
tion summer and winter alike. God’s prom¬ 
ise is, “ I will open rivers in high places, and 
fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will 
make the wilderness a pool of water, and the 
dry land springs of water;” which, as John 
Brentius says, “ denotes the great plenteous¬ 
ness of the Word and eternal blessedness flow¬ 
ing from Christ the Fountain.” And the same 
is characteristic of the picture in this sign. 
From the urn of Aquarius flows a vast, con¬ 
stant, and voluminous river. It flows in a 
bending stream both to eastward and west¬ 
ward, and enlarges as it flows. The imagery 
of the Scriptures and the imagery of this sign 
are exactly of a piece, and the true reason of 
the coincidence is, that both were meant to 
record and set forth the same glorious evan¬ 
gelic truths. 


THE SOUTHERN FISH 


19 7 


The Southern Fish. 

That this sign was really framed to be a 
picture of the risen and glorified Redeemer 
pouring out from heaven the saving influences 
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, is further evi¬ 
denced by the first Decan of Aquarius. Those 
who truly profit by the gifts and powers pro¬ 
cured and poured out by our glorious Inter¬ 
cessor are the people who believe in Christ, 
the regenerate, the saved Church. These, as 
we saw in our last, are the mystic fishes. 
And here, as the first Decan of Aquarius, we 
have the picture of a fish —Piscis Australis — 
drinking in the stream which pours from the 
urn of the beautiful One in heaven. It is the 
picture of the believing acceptance of the in¬ 
vitation of the text. Jesus stood and cried, 
“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and 
drink and here is a coming from below—a 
glad coming to the stream which issues from 
on high, a drinking in of the heavenly waters, 
and a vigorous life sustained and expanded 
by means of that drinking. 

The mythic legends do not help us much 
with regard to the interpretation of this con¬ 
stellation, but they still furnish a few signif¬ 
icant hints. Some say this fish represents 


198 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Astarte, called Aphrodite by the Greeks and 
Venus by the Romans, and that she here ap¬ 
pears in the form into which she metamor¬ 
phosed herself to escape the advances and 
power of the horrible Typhon. Astarte was 
the moon-goddess, the great mother, the em¬ 
bodiment of the dependent but ever-produc- 
tive feminine principle. In the symbology of 
the Scriptures the moon sometimes denotes 
the mother of the family, as in Joseph’s dream 
(Gen. 37), and both the woman and the moon 
are representatives of the Church. As the 
woman was made out of the side of Adam 
while He slept, so the Church was made out 
of Christ by means of that deep sleep of death 
which came upon Him, and to which He sub¬ 
mitted for the purpose. The whole mystery 
of marriage is the symbol of the union be¬ 
tween Christ and His Church (Eph. 5 : 23-32). 
Everywhere the congregation of believers is 
pictured as the spouse of Christ, the spir¬ 
itual woman, the mother of us all. And if 
this fish represents the Astarte of the pa¬ 
gan religion, we have only to strip off the 
heathen impurities, and understand the ref¬ 
erence in the sense and application of the 
Scripture symbols, in order to find here a 
picture of the regenerate people of God, 


PEGASUS. 199 

the Church, the bride of Christ, the mother 
of saints. 

So understood, the metamorphosis into a 
fish is also applicable and significant, as in no 
other interpretation. All true members of 
the Church are transformed persons, made 
over again by the power of a new spiritual 
creation, and living a new life superadded to 
Nature. It is by this spiritual metamorpho¬ 
sis that we make our escape from the power 
and dominion of the Devil. And it is by 
means of this transformation that we have 
our status and relations in the heavenly econ¬ 
omy and kingdom. The light comes feebly 
through the dark and murky atmosphere of 
the pagan world ; but wherever we get sight 
of a distinct ray, it easily resolves back into 
the figures of the primeval constellations, and 
thence into the sacred story of redemption 
through the promised Seed of the woman. 

Pegasus. 

And in perfect consistence with, and as fur¬ 
ther illustration of, what I have given as the 
meaning of this sign, is the second Decan. 
Here is the figure of a great horse pushing for¬ 
ward with full speed, with great wings spring¬ 
ing from his shoulders. The elements of his 


200 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


name, as in Isaiah 64: 5 (4), signify the swift 
divine messenger bringing joy to those whom 
he meets, otherwise the horse of the opening; or 
as the Greeks put it, without obliteration of 
the old Noetic nomenclature, the horse of the 
gushing fotmtain —a celestial horse, ever asso¬ 
ciated with glad song, the favorite of the 
Muses, under whose hoofs the Pierian springs 
started upon Mount Helicon, and on whose 
back rode Bellerophon as he went forth to 
slay the monster Chimaera. 

The fables say that this wonderful horse 
sprang into being from the slaying of Me¬ 
dusa by Perseus; that he was called Pegasus 
(jnyy^-ffuc), Horse of the Fountain , because he 
first appeared near the springs of the ocean; 
that he lived in the palace of the King and 
Father of gods, and thundered and lightened 
for Jupiter; and that Bellerophon obtained 
possession of him through sacrifice to the 
goddess of justice, followed by a deep sleep, 
during which he was divinely given the gold¬ 
en bridle which the wild htfrse obeyed, and 
thus he was borne forth to victory, though not 
without receiving a painful sting in his foot. 

In the first chapter of Zechariah the ap¬ 
pearance of such horses are the symbols of 
those whom “ God hath sent to walk to and 


PEGASUS. 


201 


fro through the earth,” not simply to see and 
report the condition of affairs, but to shake 
and disturb nations, so as to restore liberty, 
peace, and blessing to God’s people. Pega¬ 
sus is not precisely one of those horses, or 
all of them combined in one, but still a some¬ 
what corresponding ambassador of God. Pe¬ 
gasus is winged; he moves with heavenly 
speed. The first part of his or his rider’s 
name, Pega , Peka, or Pacha , in the Noetic 
dialects means the chief; and the latter part, 
sus y means, not only a horsey but swiftly com¬ 
ing or returning , with the idea of joy-bring¬ 
ing; hence the chief coming forth again in 
great victory , and with good tidings and bless¬ 
ing to those to whom he comes. The ancient 
names of the stars which make up his con¬ 
stellation are— Markaby the returning; Scheaty 
he who goeth and returneth; Enif the 
Branch; Al Geniby who carries; HomaUy the 
waters; Matary who causeth the plenteous 
overflow. The names show to what the pic¬ 
ture applies. 

Gathering up these remarkable items, and 
combining them, as they all readily combine, 
in one consistent narrative, we have in aston¬ 
ishing fulness one of the sublimest evangelic 
presentations ; nay, the very going forth of 


202 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


Christ in His living Gospel, as from the 
scenes of that supper-hall which witnessed 
the coming of the Paraclete the joyous wa¬ 
ters of cleansing and redemption, through 
His successful mediation, poured their glad 
flood into our weary world. Then the word 
was, “ Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the Gospel [Good Tidings] to every crea¬ 
ture. He that believeth and is baptized shall 
be saved.” Thenceforward, Parthians and 
Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in 
Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, 
in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, 
in Egypt, in Lybia, and strangers of Rome, 
Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, and 
people to the farthest ends of the earth, were 
made to hear, in their tongues, the wonderful 
works and achievements of God for the re¬ 
newal and saving of men. Thenceforward 
the Glad Tidings went, winged with the Spirit 
of God, waking poetic springs of joy upon 
the mountains and in the valleys, slaying the 
powers of darkness and superstition, over¬ 
whelming the dominion of the Devil, and 
bringing song and salvation to every thirsty 
and perishing soul which hears and obeys the 
call of the Lord of life to come unto Him and 
drink. The true Pegasus is the herald and 


THE SWAN. 


203 


bringer of Christ's mediatorial success and 
salvation to a famishing world, which the 
saintly patriarchs looked for from the begin¬ 
ning, and which they thus figured in the con¬ 
stellations in advance as an imperishable wit¬ 
ness of what was to come through and by 
that Coming One in whom all their hopes 
were centred. 


The Swan. 

The final side-piece which accompanies the 
Zodiacal Aquarius accords precisely with this 
presentation. It is one of the most interest¬ 
ing and beautiful of the constellations, both in 
its natural peculiarities and in its evangelic 
references.* It consists of eighty-one stars— 
one of the first or second magnitude, six of 
the third, and twelve of the fourth; and some 
of these never set. It embraces at least five 
double stars and one quadruple. The binary 
star (61 Cygni) is the most remarkable known 
in the heavens. It is one of the nearest to our 
system of the. fixed stars. It consists of two 
connected stars, which, besides their revolution 
about each other, have a common progres¬ 
sive and uniform motion toward some deter¬ 
minate region, and moving thousands of 
times faster than the swiftest body known to 


204 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

our system. This constellation has a number 
of distinct systems in itself, and shows plan¬ 
etary nebulae which have led astronomers to 
regard it as the intermediate link between 
the planetary worlds and the nebulous stars. 
It has in it specimens of both, and lies in the 
midst of the great Galactic Stream of nebu¬ 
lous stars. It is therefore remarkably suited 
to represent that peculiar and complex econ¬ 
omy—partly celestial and partly terrestrial, 
partly acting by itself and partly dependent 
on the heavenly powers—by which grace and 
salvation are carried and ministered to the 
children of men. 

The figure in this constellation is the figure 
of a swan, the lordly bird-king of* the waters, 
in all ages and in all refined countries con¬ 
sidered the emblem of poetic dignity, purity, 
and grace. By the Greeks and Romans it 
was held sacred to the god of beauty and the 
Muses, and special sweetness was connected 
with its death. /Eschylus sung, 

“ The swan, 

Expirifig, dies in melody.” 

As the white dove is the emblem of the 
Holy Ghost, so the elegant, pure, and grace¬ 
ful swan is a fitting emblem of Him who, dy- 


THE SWAN. 


205 


ing, sends forth the glad river of living waters, 
and presides in His majesty over the admin¬ 
istration of them to the thirsty children of 
men. And this is here the underlying idea. 

But this swan is on the wing , in the act of 
rapid flight, “ circling and returning,” as its 
name in Greek and Latin signifies. It seems 
to be flying down the Milky Way, in the same 
general direction with the river which pours 
from the heavenly urn. The principal stars 
which mark its wings and length of body 
form a large and beautiful cross, the most 
regular of all the crosses formed by the con¬ 
stellations. It is thus the bird of matchless 
beauty, purity, dignity, and grace, bearing 
aloft the cross, and circling with it over the 
blessed waters of life; whilst in the naming 
of its stars, the brightest is Deneb, the Lord or 
Judge to come; Azel , who goes and returns ; 
Fafage , glorious, shining forth ; Sadr, who re¬ 
turns as in a circle ; Adige , flying swiftly ; 
Arided ’ He shall come down ; and other words 
of like import, we find strong identifications 
of this lordly bird-king of the waters with Him 
who, through the preaching of His cross hither 
and thither over all this nether world, cries 
and says, “ If any man thirst, let him come unto 
Me, and drink!' 

18 


206 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


Greek and Roman mythology is greatly at 
a loss to account for the presence of this bird 
in the sky; but the stories on the subject are 
not destitute of thought and suggestion cor¬ 
responding with the evangelic truth. The 
Greeks enumerated a collection of characters 
of different parentages and histories, each re¬ 
puted to have been the original of this swan 
in the heavens. One was the son of Apollo, 
a handsome hunter, who in some strange fit 
leaped into Lake Canope, and was metamor¬ 
phosed into this swan. Another was the son 
of Poseidon, an ally of the Trojans, who could 
not be hurt with arms of iron, but was stran¬ 
gled by Achilles—whose body, when the victor 
meant to rifle it, suddenly took its departure 
to heaven in the form of a swan. A third was 
the son of Ares, killed by Herakles in a duel, 
who at his death was changed by his father 
into a swan. A fourth was the son of Sthene- 
lus and a dear friend and relative of Phaeton, 
who so lamented the fate of him whom Jupiter 
destroyed for his bad driving of the chariot 
of the sun that Apollo metamorphosed him 
into a swan and placed him among the stars. 
Some dim embodiments of the true prophetic 
delineations of this swan, and of that history 
of the Redeemer through which He came to 


A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE. 20? 

the position and relations in which this pic¬ 
ture received fulfilment, appear in the several 
myths. Christ was of divine birth and nature. 
He was in himself invincible. He did submit 
to death in heroic conflict with the powers of 
darkness and the just penalties due the sins 
of the world. It was His great love for those 
to whom He became a Brother that brought 
him down to the dark river. His body did 
take life again after death, and disappear into 
a new form of brightness and glory to assume 
position in the heavens. In these several par¬ 
ticulars the myths touching this constellation 
are in remarkable accord with the Gospel his¬ 
tory, and help to reflect how minute and clear 
and vivid were the believing anticipations of 
the makers of these signs already in the very 
first ages of our race. 

A Beautiful Picture. 

Thus, then, in the Zodiacal Aquarius we 
have the picture in the stars of the heavenly 
waters of life and salvation; of their source 
in the beautiful Seed of the woman, slain in¬ 
deed, but risen again and lifted up in ever¬ 
lasting glory; of the voluminous plenteous 
ness in which they flow down into all our dry 
and thirsty world; of the new creation and 


208 the gospel in the stars. 

joyous life they bring to those who drink 
them; of the swift heralding and bearing of 
the glad provision to all people; and of the 
graceful holding forth of the cross to the na¬ 
tions over which, on outspread wings, the 
Lord of these waters circles, in His meek 
loveliness ever calling, “If any man thirst , let 
him come unto Me, arid drink! 

Beautiful picture of most precious Gospel 
truths!—a picture which I can interpret no 
otherwise than as intended by men fully in¬ 
formed beforehand of these glorious facts. 
And if, perchance, these constellations were 
not meant in token, testimony, and prophecy 
of what was foreknown, believed, and expect¬ 
ed by the primeval patriarchs who arranged 
them, the picture is still true to what has since 
come to pass, and which it is part of our holy 
religion to accept and rejoice in as the great 
mercy of God to a fallen world. Christ Jesus 
is the beautiful Saviour of mankind, Son of 
God and Son of man. He did come in the 
flesh and live a human life in which humanity 
came to its loveliest and highest bloom. He 
did suffer and die a violent death from offend¬ 
ed justice on account of sin which He assumed, 
but in no degree chargeable to Him. He did 
rise again from death by the power of the 


A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE . 209 

eternal Spirit, changed, transfigured, and glo¬ 
rified, and soar away beyond all reach of en¬ 
emies, even to the calm heavens, where no 
revolutions of time can any more obscure His 
brightness or eclipse the outshining of His 
glory. He is there as the Lord of life and 
grace, obtaining by His meritorious interces¬ 
sion an exhaustless fulness of spiritual treas¬ 
ures, like very rivers of renewing and sancti¬ 
fying mercies, which He has poured, and is 
ever pouring, down into our world for the 
comfort, cheer, and salvation of those who be¬ 
lieve in Him. He has arranged, and himself 
conducts and energizes, a great system of 
means for carrying and proclaiming the same 
all over the world amid songs of halleluia and 
rejoicing which can never die. Deep in it all 
He has embedded the great doctrine of His 
Cross and Passion as the central thought and 
brightest substance of the sublime and won¬ 
derful economy. And in and amid it all faith 
beholds Him in His lordly beauty stationed 
by the true Pierian spring, ever crying and 
ever calling, “ If any man thirst, let him come 
unto Me, and drink.” 

“ Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to 
the waters ; and he that hath no money, come 
ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and 
18* 0 


210 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


milk without money and without price ;” “And 
the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let 
him that heareth say, Come. And let him 
that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let 
him take the water of life freely.” Blessed 
tidings! blessed provision! blessed opportu¬ 
nity ! O man ! awake to the glory and drink; 
drink deep, drink earnestly, drink with all the 
capacity of thy soul; for thy Lord and Re¬ 
deemer saith, “Whosoever drinketh of the 
water that I shall give him shall never thirst; 
but the water that I shall give him shall be in 
him a well of water springing up into ever¬ 
lasting life.” 

“ The Fountain flows! It pours in fullest measure 
Of grace and power—a great and plenteous flood! 

Drink—drink, O man! Drink in the crystal treasure, 

Nor thirst, nor die, but live the life of God.” 


JLwture flintfj. 


THE MYSTIC FISHES. 


John 21 : 6 : “And He said unto them, Cast the net on the right 
side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now 
they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.” 


UR blessed Saviour taught by acts, as 



well as words. He gave out parables 
in deeds, as well as in stories and descriptions. 
All His works of wonder were living allego¬ 
ries—pictures and prophecies incarnated in 
visible and tangible facts. This is* particu¬ 
larly true of the miracle to which the text 
refers. It was a supernatural thing, to prove 
the divine power of Him by whom it was 
wrought; but its chief significance lies in its 
symbolic character as an illustration of that 
catching of men by the preaching of the 
Gospel to which the Apostles were called 
and ordained. 

Apostolic Fishing. 

At the beginning of his ministry, seeing 
Peter and Andrew casting a net into the sea, 

211 


212 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


He said unto them, “ Follow me, and I will 
make you fishers of menthat is, ministers 
of the Word, who by the holding forth of the 
truth were to cast the great evangelic net 
into the sea of the world, and enclose people 
as Christian believers and members of the 
Church. So He also said, “ The kingdom of 
heaven is like unto a net that was cast into 
the sea, and gathered of every kind, which, 
when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat 
down, and gathered the good into vessels, but 
cast the bad away.” So, likewise, when He 
commanded Peter to launch out into the deep 
and let down the nets for a draught, which re¬ 
sulted in taking such a multitude of fishes that 
the nets brake in the drawing, and two boats 
were loaded down to the sinking point with 
the product, He meant to show the disciples 
not only His divine power, but a picture of 
that mystic fishing on which he was about to 
send them, and which was to be the work of 
His ministers in all the ages. And the mir¬ 
acle before us is a corresponding picture of 
the same thing—with this difference, that the 
other instances refer to the Church nominal 
and visible as it appears to human view, em¬ 
bracing both good and bad, to be assorted in 
the day of judgment; whilst the reference 


APOSTOLIC FISHING. 213 

here is to the inward, true, invisible Church— 
the Church as it appears to the eye of God— 
which includes none but the good, the genu¬ 
ine children of grace and salvation, the def¬ 
inite number of real saints. 

It is thus abundantly established and clear 
that in the symbology of the Scriptures and 
the teachings of Christ the congregation of 
those who profess to believe in Him—that is, 
the Church—is likened to fishes enclosed in 
the fisherman’s net. The world is likened to 
a sea, in which natural men range without 
control, following their own likes and impulses, 
and belonging to no one. So the Gospel is 
likened to a net, which the ministering ser¬ 
vants of the Lord spread in the waters in 
order to enclose and gather men—not to de¬ 
stroy them, but to secure them for Christ, 
that they may be held by His word and grace 
and be His peculiar possession. And when 
they are thus secured and brought within the 
enclosure of the influences and laws of the 
Gospel as Christ’s professed followers, and 
formed into His congregation, they are His 
mystic fishes , caught by His command and 
direction and made His peculiar property. 
The aptness of the figure no one can dis¬ 
pute, and the scripturalness of the imagery 


214 THE gospel in the stars. 

is fixed and settled beyond all possibility of 
mistake. Christ himself makes fishes the 
symbol of His Church. 

But as is the picture in the Scriptures, so 
we find in the figures of the constellations. 
The new life that rises out of the death of 
the sacrificial goat is in the form of a large 
and vigorous fish. Those who come to the 
heavenly Waterman to drink in the stream 
of living influences which he pours down from 
on high are represented by a great fish. And 
as the Church is the most important institute, 
result, and embodiment of the redemptive 
work and achievements of the Seed of the 
woman, so we have one of the twelve signs 
of the Zodiac specially and exclusively de¬ 
voted to it; and that sign is the sign of the 
Fishes , which we are now to consider. 

The Sign of Pisces. 

This constellation is now the first in the 
order of the twelve signs of the Zodiac ; but 
in the original order, which I have been fol¬ 
lowing, it is the seventh. The figure by which 
it is represented consists of two large fishes, 
one headed toward the north pole, and the 
other parallel with the path of the Sun. They 
are some distance apart, but are tied to the 


THE MYTHS. 


215 


two ends of a long, undulating band or rib¬ 
bon, which is held by the foot of the Ram in 
the next succeeding sign. 

The names of this sign in Hebrew and 
Arabic, as in the Greek and Latin, mean the 
same as in English— the Fishes. In Syriac it 
is called Nuno , the Fish prolonged, the fish with 
the idea of posterity or successive generations. 
In Coptic its name is Pi-cot Orion, the Fish, 
co 7 tgregation, or company of the coming Prince. 
Two prominent names in the sign are Okda, 
the United, and Al Samaca, the Upheld. And 
all the indications connected with Pisces tend 
to the conclusion that in these two great fishes 
we are to see and read precisely what was 
symbolized by Christ in the miracle to which 
the text refers; namely, a pictorial represen¬ 
tation of the Church. 

The Myths. 

The origin of this sign, as mythology gives 
it, is not at variance with this idea. It is said 
that Venus and Cupid were one day on the 
banks of the Euphrates, and were there sur¬ 
prised by the apparition of the giant monster 
Typhon. To save themselves they plunged 
into the river, and escaped by being changed 
into fishes—saved by transformation through 


21 6 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

water. To commemorate the occurrence it 
is said that Minerva placed these two fishes 
among the stars. 

We have already noted some symbolic con¬ 
nection between the mythic Venus and the 
Church. The ancient Phoenicians, according 
to Nigidius, asserted that she was hatched 
from an egg by a heavenly dove. Cupid, or 
the ancient Eros, was held to be the first-born 
of the creation, one of the causes in the for¬ 
mation of the world, the uniting love-power 
which brought order and harmony to the con¬ 
flicting elements of Chaos. The later fables of 
Cupid are remote inventions out of the orig¬ 
inal cosmic Eros, the ideas concerning whom 
well agree with the sign, and readily interpret 
in their application to Christ and the Church. 
Christ was “the first-born of every creature ” 
(Col. 1:15), and is the Head of “the general 
assembly and Church of the first-born,” who, 
through His uniting love, combines the chaotic 
elements of humanity into order and union 
with himself, bringing into being the mystic 
woman, “born of water and of the Spirit,” 
which is part of His own mystic organism, 
His body. By that means also those who 
compose the Church escape the hundred¬ 
headed enemy of God and all good. And in 


TWOFOLDNESS OF THE CHURCH. 2\J 

so far as this sign of the Fishes was divinely 
framed and placed in the heavens to com¬ 
memorate this transformation and deliverance 
by water, it is nothing more nor less than a 
divine symbol of the Church—the imperson¬ 
ation of escape from horrible confusion and 
destruction, as also of that new-creating love 
of God, the mother of all holy order and 
salvation. 

Twofoldness of the Church. 

These Fishes are two in number. The gen¬ 
eral idea thus expressed is the idea of multi¬ 
tude, which is characteristic of all the sacred 
promises relating to the success of the Mes¬ 
sianic work among men. The Church, in 
comparison with the great unsanctified world 
around it, is always a “ little flock”—a special 
elect called out from among the great body 
of mankind outside of itself—-just as the fishes 
enclosed in a net are but a small portion of 
the myriads that are in the sea. But, in itself 
considered, multitudinousness is always one 
of its characteristics. To Abraham it was 
figured as the stars of the sky and as the 
sand on the seashore for multitude. To Eze¬ 
kiel the sacred waters embraced “ a very great 
multitude of fish.” Every symbolic casting 

19 


218 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


of the net at Christ’s command took a great 
multitude of fishes. The very name carries 
in it the idea of multitude, and the duplication 
of the symbol gives the still further idea of 
outspread multiplication—a glorious company 
of Apostles, a goodly fellowship of Prophets, 
a noble army of Martyrs, a holy Church 
throughout all the world. 

But, beyond this, the Church, in historical 
fact and development, is twofold. There was 
a Church before Christ, and there is a Church 
since Christ; and whilst these two make up ” 
the one universal Church, they are still quite 
distinct in character. The patriarchal Church, 
which was more definitely organized under 
the institutes given by Moses, was one. It is 
a singular fact that the ancient rabbis always 
considered the people of Israel as denoted by 
this sign. The Sethites and Shemites, and all 
adherents to the true God and His promises 
and worship, were by both themselves and 
the heathen astronomically associated with 
these Fishes. They are certainly one set of 
the great Saviour’s fishes. The Christian 
Church, organized under the institutes of 
Jesus Christ, was the other of these Fishes. 
Though in some sense the same old Church 
reformed, it was still in many respects quite 


TWOFOLDNESS OF THE CHURCH. 219 

another—so much so that it became apostasy 
to turn from it to “the beggarly elements” 
of the former dispensation. Here, then, are 
the two great branches or departments of the 
one great universal Church of the promised 
Seed of the woman. To the one His coming 
was future, and so it dealt in types, shadows, 
symbols, and figures of the true. To the other 
the ancient anticipations have passed into ac¬ 
tual fact, and exist as living realities, already 
far on the way toward the final consummation. 
The faith of both is the same, and the spiritual 
life of both is the same. Hence both are mys¬ 
tic Fishes. But the stage of development, the 
historical place and condition, and the entire 
external economy, are different, as type and 
antitype are different, though in interior sub¬ 
stance one and the same. The Fish in its 
multitudinousness symbolizes both. The old 
Church was the Fish arising out of the slain 
sacrifice believed in in advance, and signified 
in the old ordinances; and the new Church, 
organized under Christ, is the Fish arising 
afresh out of the same, which has now become 
an accomplished and existing reality. Hence 
the whole thing was fore-signified in the stars 
under the image of two Fishes , which are in¬ 
deed two under one method of conception, and 


220 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


yet one and the same in another method of 
conception. It is the one Fish in both, yet two 
Fishes in historic presentation and external 
dispensation. 


The Band. 

The Decans of this sign serve to bring 
out this idea with great clearness. The first 
Decan is a very long waving Ribbon or Band. 
The ancient name of it is Al Risha, the Band 
or bridle. It is one, continuous, unbroken 
piece, and so doubled that one of its ends 
goes out to the northern Fish, and is tightly 
bound around its tail; whilst the other end 
goes out to the other Fish, and is fastened to 
it in the same way. By this Band these two 
Fishes are inseparably tied together, so that 
the one cannot get on without the other. 
And so the fact is. The patriarchal Church 
is really tied to the Christian Church. The 
Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that the an¬ 
cient saints, from Adam onward, could not 
be made perfect without us (chap, n 140). 
The consummation of all they hoped for was 
inevitably tied up with what was to be subse¬ 
quently achieved by Christ, much of which is 
still a matter of promise and hope. And so 
the Christian Church is really tied to the pa- 


THE BAND. 


221 


triarchal Church. All the necessary prepara¬ 
tions and foundations for Christianity were 
vouchsafed through the Old Testament. 
What was then testified, believed, and looked 
for we must needs also accept, believe, and 
take in. The Christian does not stand just 
where the ancient believer stood, but the old 
was the bridge by which the new was reach¬ 
ed. Christ came not to destroy the law and 
the prophets, but to fulfil them, and to com¬ 
plete what they looked to and anticipated. 
There could be no Christian Church without 
the patriarchal going before it, just as there 
could be no patriarchal Church without the 
Christian coming after it to complete and ful¬ 
fil what the old was meant to prepare for. 
And here is the Band of connection unalter¬ 
ably binding them together in a unity which 
still is dual. 

The doubled part of this Band, strange to 
say, is in the hand or front foot of the sym¬ 
bolic figure in the next succeeding sign; that 
is, in the hand of Aries , the Ram or Lamb. 
The point of unity between these two Fishes 
is therefore in Christ and His administrations, 
by which both are equally affected and up¬ 
held. Both belong to Christ in the attitude 
of the reigning and victorious Lamb. He up- 
19 * 


222 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


holds, guides, and governs them by one and 
the same Band. These Fishes thus have their 
places and status by His appointment and au¬ 
thority. They are caught Fishes, no longer 
roaming at large according to their own will. 
They are bound together in the hand of the 
glorious Lamb. They are His, and are up¬ 
held, governed, and made to fulfil their offices 
and mission by His power, will, and grace. 
And this is precisely the relation and condi¬ 
tion of the Church in all dispensations. Like 
the net of Peter, which held, controlled, and 
lifted the literal fishes enclosed by it, so this 
Band holds, controls, and lifts the mystic Fishes 
which constitute the Church. It is the tie of 
connection between all saints, and at the same 
time the tie of connection between them and 
the glorified Saviour, by whose word they 
have been taken and made His precious pos¬ 
session. “Without Me ye can do nothing,” 
was His word when on earth; and ever of 
old His promise has been: “Thou whom I 
have taken from the ends of the earth, and 
called from the chief men thereof, and said 
unto thee, Thou art my servant; fear not, 
for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am 
thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will 
help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the 


CEP HE US. 


223 


right hand of my righteousness .” And here 
is the same word pictorially expressed. 

Cepheus. 

Who the friend and protector of these 
Fishes is, the second accompanying side-piece 
also very sublimely shows. Here is the fig¬ 
ure of a glorious king, wearing his royal robe, 
bearing aloft a branch or sceptre, and having 
on his head a crown of stars. He is calmly 
seated in the repose of power, with one foot 
on the solstitial colure, and the other on the 
pole-star itself, whilst his right hand grasps 
the Ribbons. Bearing with us what the 
Scriptures tell of the present exaltation and 
glory of Jesus Christ, we here behold every 
particular so completely and thrillingly em¬ 
braced that the picture stands self-interpreted. 
It so vividly portrays our enthroned Saviour, 
and fits so sublimely to Him, and to Him only, 
that no special prompting is necessary to en¬ 
able us to see Him in it. And if we need fur¬ 
ther assurance on the subject, we find it in the 
accompanying star-names. 

On the right shoulder of this figure, in 
glittering brilliancy, shines a star whose name, 
Al Deramin , means the Quickly-returning. In 
the girdle shines another, equally conspicuous, 


224 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

whose name, Al Phirk , means the Redeemer. 
In the left knee is still another, whose name 
means the Shepherd. The Egyptians called 
this royal figure Pe-ku-hor , the Ruler that com- 
eth. His more common designation is Ce- 
pheus , which means the royal Branch , the 
King . Everything thus combines to identify 
this figure as intended to represent our Sa¬ 
viour as now enthroned in glory, even the 
Seed of the woman, clothed with celestial 
royalty and dominion. 

In the Zodiac of Dendera the figure in this 
constellation is a large front leg of an animal 
connected with a small figure of a sheep, in 
the same posture as Aries in the next sign. 
It is the strong hand of the Lamb, and so the 
same which holds the Band of the Fishes. 
It identifies what is otherwise represented as 
a glorious king with the upholder of the 
Fishes, and makes Cepheus one and the same 
with the victorious Lamb. 

Christ has been really invested with all 
royal rights and dominion. It was predicted 
of Him from of old, “ He shall bear the glory, 
and shall sit and rule upon His throne” (Zech. 
6 : 13). And so the testimony of the Apostles 
is that, having been made a little lower than 
the angels for the suffering of death, and hav- 


ANDROMEDA. 


225 


mg humbled himself to the cross for our re¬ 
demption, God hath highly exalted Him, and 
set Him on His own right hand in the heav¬ 
ens, far above all principality, and power, and 
might, and dominion, and every name that is 
named, not only in this world, but also in that 
which is to come, and hath put all things un¬ 
der His feet, and gave Him to be Head over 
all things to the Church, which is His body, 
the fulness of Him that filleth all in all (Eph. 
1 : 19—23). Hence also it is said to all be¬ 
lievers, “Ye are complete in Him, which is 
the Head of all principality and power” (Col. 
2:10). With a high hand and an outstretched 
arm He sitteth in royal majesty to help, up¬ 
hold, and deliver His Church; “ and of the 
increase of His government and peace there 
shall be no end.” 


Andromeda. 

A still further representation of the Church 
is supplied in the third Decan of this sign. 
This is the picture of a beautiful woman, with 
fetters upon her wrists and ankles, and fas¬ 
tened down so as to be unable to rise. This 
woman in the Decan is the same as the Fishes 
in the sign. The change of the image argues 
no change in the subject. The Church is oft- 

p 


226 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

en a woman, and oftener than it is a net full 
of fishes ; but it is both—sometimes the one, 
and sometimes the other—in the representa¬ 
tions of the Scriptures. Besides, in some of 
the ancient planispheres these Fishes were 
pictured with the heads of women, thus iden¬ 
tifying them with the woman. 

Greek mythology calls this woman Andro¬ 
meda (andro-medo ), man-ruler, but with what 
idea, or for what reason, does not appear in 
the myths. The name is perhaps derived 
from some ancient designation of similar sig¬ 
nificance, which has no meaning in the Greek 
fables, but which covers a most important and 
inspiring biblical representation respecting the 
Church. Here we discover the true Andro¬ 
meda —the mystic woman called and appointed 
to rule and guardianship over men. When 
Peter wished to know what he and his fellow- 
disciples should have by way of compensa¬ 
tion for having forsaken everything for Christ, 
the blessed Master said: “ Ye which have fol¬ 
lowed Me, in the regeneration, when the Son 
of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, 
ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging 
the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28). 
Hence Paul spoke to the Corinthians as of a 
well-understood fact, “ Do ye not know that 


ANDROMEDA. 


227 


the saints shall judge the world ?” (1 Cor. 6:2). 
Hence the enraptured John ascribes everlast- 
ing glory and dominion to the divine Christ, 
not only for washing us from our sins in His 
own blood, but that He “hath made us kings 
and priests unto God” (Rev. 1 : 5, 6). The 
true people of God, the real Church, are the 
elect kings of the future ages. Even now 
already they are embodiments and bearers 
of the heavenly kingdom and dominion upon 
earth. Through them the word goes forth 
for the governing of men, and the regulation 
of their hearts and lives, and the bringing of 
them under a new spiritual dominion, so that 
none ever come to forgiveness and glory ex¬ 
cept as they come into submission to the truth 
and the teachings of the Church. The great 
All-Ruler has so united the Church to him¬ 
self, and so embodied himself in it, that by its 
word, testimonies, and ordinances He rules, 
governs, tutors, and guards men, and brings 
them under His saving dominion. The Proph¬ 
ets, Apostles, Confessors, Pastors, and Teach¬ 
ers which He has raised up in the Church, 
with those associated with them in the fellow¬ 
ship of the same faith and work, are the true 
kings and guardians of men, who have been 
ruling from their spiritual thrones for all these 


228 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ages, and will continue to rule more and 
more for ever as the spiritual and eternal 
kingdom is more and more revealed and en¬ 
forced. Most significantly, therefore, may 
the Church be called Andromeda; and the 
fact that the mystic woman in this constella¬ 
tion is so called, with no other known reason 
for it, goes far to identify her as verily in¬ 
tended to be a prophetic picture of the Church, 
which she truly represents beyond anything 
else that has ever been in fable or in fact. 

Andromeda’s Chains. 

But this woman is in chains, bound hand 
and foot. The names in the sign mean the 
Broken-down , the Weak , the Afflicted\ the 
Chained. The fables say that she was the 
daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, prom¬ 
ised to her uncle Phine'us in marriage, when 
Neptune sent a flood and a sea-monster to 
ravage the country in answer to the resentful 
clamors of his favorite nymphs against Cas¬ 
siopeia, because she boasted herself fairer 
than Juno and the Nereides. Nor would the 
incensed god be pacified until, at the instance 
of Jupiter Ammon, the beautiful Andromeda 
was exposed to the sea-monster, chained to a 
rock near Joppa in Palestine, and left to be 


ANDROMEDA'S CHAINS. 22Q 

devoured. But Perseus, on returning from 
the conquest of the Gorgons, rescued her 
and made her his bride. 

Here, then, was a case of malignant jeal¬ 
ousy and persecution resulting in the disa¬ 
bility, exposure, and intended destruction of 
an innocent person. And thus, again, we 
have a striking picture of the unfavorable 
side of the Church’s condition in this world. 
Jealous rivals hate her and clamor against 
her. The world-powers in their selfishness 
fail to protect her, and lend themselves for 
her exposure and destruction. Innocently 
she is made to suffer. Though a lovely and 
influential princess, she is hindered by per¬ 
sonal disabilities and bonds. It will not be 
so always. The time will come when those 
bonds shall be broken and that exposure 
ended. There is One engaged in a war with 
the powers of darkness and the children of 
hell who will presently come this way to res¬ 
cue and deliver the fair maiden and to make 
her His glorious bride. But for the present 
affliction and hardship are appointed to her. 
She cannot move as she would, or enjoy what 
pertains to her royal character, her innocence, 
and her beauty. She is bound to the hard, 
cold/and ponderous rock of this earthly life. 

20 


230 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Born to reign with her redeeming Lord, Apos¬ 
tles can only wish that she did reign, that 
they might reign with her. She is within the 
sacred territory, but it is as yet a place of 
captivity and bonds. She never can be truly 
herself in this mortal life. Nor is she com¬ 
pletely free from the oppressive Phineus un¬ 
til the victorious Perseus comes. The whole 
picture is true to the life, and shows with what 
profound prophetic foresight and knowledge 
the makers of these signs were endowed. 

Ill-Favor of the Church. 

Among the ancients the Zodiacal Pisces 
was considered the most unfavorable of all 
the signs. The astrological calendars de¬ 
scribe its influences as malignant, and inter¬ 
pret its emblems as indicative of violence and 
death. The Syrians and the Egyptians large¬ 
ly abstained from the eating of fish, from the 
dread and abhorrence which they associated 
with the Fishes in the Zodiac. In the hiero¬ 
glyphics of Egypt the fish is the symbol of 
odiousness, dislike, and hatred. And this, 
too, falls in exactly with our interpretation. 
The earthly condition and fortunes of the 
Church are nothing but unfavorable and re¬ 
pulsive to the tastes and likes of carnal and 


ILL-FAVOR OF THE CHURCH. 231 

self-seeking man. The restraints and disabil¬ 
ities which go along with it are what the world 
hates, derides, and rebels against. These 
Bands that bind the Fishes together, and hold 
them with bridles of heavenly command and 
control, and enclose them with meshes be¬ 
yond which they cannot pass, are what un¬ 
sanctified humanity disdains as humiliation 
and reckons as adversity to the proper joy 
and good of life. Though people can sus¬ 
tain no charges against the Church, and can¬ 
not deny her princely beauty, yet to take 
sides with her is to them nothing but flood, 
drowning, and devastation to what they most 
cherish and admire. Let her be chained, dis¬ 
abled, exposed and devoured, if need be, only 
so that they are exempt from association with 
her! Let her suffer, and let her be given to 
death and destruction, the more and the soon¬ 
er the better if they only can thereby have 
the greater freedom for their likes, passions, 
and. enjoyments uncurbed and unrestrained! 
This is the feeling and this the spirit which 
have obtained toward the Church in all the 
ages. And the dislike of men to this sign is 
but the filling out of the picture in the stars 
as I have been expounding it. It is another 
link in the chain of evidence that we have 


232 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

here a divine symbol of the Church in its 
earthly estate and career. The coincidences, 
to say the least, are very marvellous. To say 
that the Church has been formed from and to 
the signs, as French infidelity would have it, 
is in the highest degree absurd. The Church 
has not accepted humiliation, disability, con¬ 
tempt, hatred, and oppression from the world 
just to conform herself to the indications con¬ 
nected with Pisces; and yet her condition to¬ 
day, as in all other time, is precisely that which 
this sign represents, and has been represent¬ 
ing on the face of the sky for all these four or 
five thousand years. The sign has in no sense 
or degree conditioned the Church, and yet it 
truly represents the estate of the Church in 
all generations. To what other conclusion, 
then, can we come than that the sign in its 
place, and the whole system of signs of which 
it forms a conspicuous part, is from that good 
and infallible prescience which knows the 
course and end of all things from the begin¬ 
ning ? Let those doubt it who will; for my 
own part, I have no doubt upon the subject. 


Hectare ftcntfj. 


THE BLESSED OUTCOME. 


Rev. 5:12: “ Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, 
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and 
blessing.” 



HIS is the myriad-voiced response of 


X the heavenly world to the triumphant 
song of the redeemed after the Church has 
run its earthly course. It immediately follows 
that time, now near at hand, when the great 
voice from the sky, as of a trumpet, shall say, 
to all the holy dead and to all God’s saints, 
“ Come up hither.” The whole scene rep¬ 
resents that heavenly condition of the elect 
to be realized at the fulfilment of the apos¬ 
tolic word, which says, “The Lord himself 
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with 
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump 
of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 
then we which are alive and remain shall be 
caught up together with them in the clouds, 
to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:16, 
17). It is the same scene to which Jesus 

20 * 233 


234 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

himself referred when He said: “ Whereso¬ 
ever the body is, thither will the eagles be 
gathered together” (Luke 17 : 37). And it 
is precisely this scene that is signified by the 
eighth sign of the Zodiac—the last of the 
quaternary relating more especially to the 
Church. 

The text celebrates the worthiness, glory, 
and dominion of the Lamb , who is further de¬ 
scribed as appearing to have been slain, but 
here as standing in the midst of the throne, 
having the perfection of strength and wisdom, 
and the fulness of spiritual and divine energy 
operative in the world for the complete sal¬ 
vation of His people; for this is what is 
meant by the “ seven horns and seven eyes— 
the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all 
the earth.” And in the sign of Aries we 
have this same L^amb, or Prince of the flock, 
the Son of man as the Head, Sacrifice, and 
High Priest of the Church, lifted up upon the 
path of the Sun, looking forth in the repose 
of power, and working that very translation 
and glorification of His people which the 
Scriptures everywhere set before us as the 
blessed hope of all saints. 

To this interesting presentation, then, let 
us now direct our attention. 


THE SIGN OF ARIES. 


235 


The Sign of Aries. 

The figure here is that of a vigorous Ram. 
It is called Aries, the Chief, the Head; as Ar¬ 
yan means the Lordly. So Christ is the Chief, 
the Head and Lord of His Church. The 
English name, Ram , means high, great, ele¬ 
vated, lifted up. In Syriac the name is Amroo, 
the Lamb , the same as John 1 : 29, where it is 
said, “ Behold the La 7 nb of God, which taketh 
away the sin of the worldalso the Branch, 
the Palm-branch , recognized by the Jews as 
denotive of Christ’s royal coming to His 
Church. The Arabic calls this figure Al 
Hamal , the Sheep, the Gentle, the Merciful. 
The principal stars included in this figure are 
called El Nath or El Natik , and Al Share tan, 
which mean the Wounded , the Bruised, the 
Slain. Over the head of the figure is a tri¬ 
angle, which the old Greeks said exhibited 
the name of the Deity, and its principal star 
bears a name signifying the Head, the Up¬ 
lifted, hence the Lamb exalted to the divine 
glory, to the throne of the all-holy One. 

It is unreasonable to suppose that all this 
could have happened by mere accident. There 
was manifestly some intelligent design by 
which the whole was arranged. And the 


236 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

entire presentation is in thorough accord with 
what the Scriptures say concerning the Seed 
of the woman. As the Son of man He is 
continually represented as the Head and 
Prince of the flock, the Lamb —“ the Lamb 
that was slain”—the Lamb lifted to divine 
dominion and glory. In His pure, meek, and 
sacrificial character the Scriptures style Christ 
“ the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
sin of the world.” In His exaltation He is 
represented as “ the Lamb in the midst of the 
throne.” In the administrations of judgment 
upon the wicked world He is contemplated 
as the Lamb, whose wrath is unbearable. As 
the Bridegroom and Husband of the Church 
He is also the Lamb, to whose marriage- 
supper the Gospel calls us. As the Keeper 
of the Book of life in which the names of the 
saints are written, the Lifter of the title-deed 
of our inheritance, and the Breaker of the 
seals by which the earth is purged of usurpers 
and the mystery of God completed, He is 
presented as “ the Lamb.” As the conso- 
ciate of the eternal Father in the joy and 
sovereignty of the world to come, in which 
the saints glory for ever and ever, He is still 
referred to as “ the Lamb,” by whose blood 
they overcome and in whose light they live 


THE MYTHIC STORIES. 


23 7 


world without end. And in whatever attitude 
He appears, back of all He is still the Lamb. 

The Mythic Stories. 

The mythic stories concerning Aries still 
further identify him with the Lamb of the text. 
This noble and mysterious animal was given 
by Nephele to her two children, Phrixus and 
Helle, when Ino, their mortal stepmother, was 
about to have them sacrificed to Jupiter. It 
was by seating themselves on its back and 
clinging to its fleece that they were to make 
their escape. Nephele means the Cloud. She 
is reputed the queen of Thebes; and Thebes 
was the house , city, or congregation of God. 
We thus have the cloud over God’s house, or 
congregation, precisely as the Scriptures tell 
of the cloud of God’s gracious manifestations 
to His ancient people—in their deliverance 
from Egypt, in their journeyings in the wil¬ 
derness, and in their worship in the taber¬ 
nacle and the temple. God visibly dealt with 
them as their merciful Guide, Instructor, Pro¬ 
tector, and Ruler; and His gracious presence 
was almost uniformly manifested in the form 
of the cloud. Also in Job’s time “thick 
clouds” were His covering. It was by these 
cloud-manifestations that He called and form- 


238 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ed the congregation of His people, assembled 
them around Him, and kept them in commu¬ 
nion with himself as His Church or city. 

The two children of the cloud are therefore 
the same with the two Fishes in the preceding 
sign; that is, the multitudinous twofold Church, 
which is born of these merciful divine manifes¬ 
tations. These children were all under sen¬ 
tence of death. So the Church, consisting of 
men who had fallen under the power of in¬ 
coming sin, was in danger of being sacrificed. 
From such a fate believers are delivered by 
means of the blest “ Lamb of God, which tak- 
eth away the sin of the world.” 

This Lamb was furnished to these children 
from the same cloud of which they themselves 
are born; and so Christ was begotten by the 
power of the Highest coming upon and over¬ 
shadowing the Virgin of Nazareth, and upon 
himself at His baptism and transfiguration. 

The safety of these children of the cloud 
rested exclusively in this Lamb, and so the 
name of Jesus is the only name given under 
heaven among men whereby we can be saved. 
Both of them in fact were safe, and carried far 
aloft from Ino’s reach and power, so long as 
they both continued firmly seated on this 
Lamb; and so the Church is lifted far above 


THE MYTHIC STORIES. 


239 


all condemnation by virtue of its being plant¬ 
ed on Jesus Christ as its Help and Redeemer. 
Helle, one of these cloud-children, became 
giddy in the heavenly elevation to which she 
was lifted by this Lamb, lost her hold upon 
his back, and fell off into the sea, thereafter 
called Hellespont , or Helle’s Sea; and so the 
antediluvian Church apostatized and was 
drowned in the flood; as likewise the Israel- 
itish Church, becoming giddy in its sublime 
elevation, let go its hold on the Lamb by re¬ 
jecting Christ, and dropped from its heavenly 
position into the sea of the common world. 
Phrixus, the more manly part of this mystic 
cloud-seed, held on to the mystic Lamb, and 
was brought in safety to Colchis , the citadel of 
reconciliation, the city of refuge. So likewise 
there has ever been a true people of God re¬ 
maining faithful amid the apostasies around 
them, who never let go their hold on the 
Lamb of God, and are securely borne to the 
citadel of peace and salvation. 

Nephele’s Lamb was sacrificed to Jupiter, 
as those who were saved by him would have 
been without him; and so Christ, the true 
Aries, was sacrificed for us, and died in our 
stead. He is “ the Lamb slain from the foun¬ 
dation of the world.” And it was this Lamb 


240 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

of Nephele that yielded the Golden Fleece, 
which made him who possessed it the envy 
of kings, and which constituted the highest 
treasure to be found by the children of men. 
And this, again, is a most striking image of 
the heavenly robe of Christ’s meritorious 
righteousness, the sublimest and most en¬ 
riching treasure and ornament of the Church, 
which ever sings— 

“ Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness 
My beauty are, my glorious dress; 

’Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed, 

With joy shall I lift up my head.” 

It is wonderful to see how these traditional 
legends of the constellations interpret on the 
theory that they have come from prophecies 
and sacred beliefs touching the promised Seed 
of the woman and the Church which He has 
purchased with His blood. 

It is also worthy of remark that the Egypt¬ 
ians celebrated a sacred feast to the Ram upon 
the entrance of the Sun into the sign of Aries. 
They prepared for it before the full moon next 
to the spring equinox, and on the fourteenth 
day of that moon all Egypt was in joy over 
the dominion of the Ram. Everybody put 
foliage or boughs, or some mark of the feast, 
over his door. The people crowned the ram 


THE MYTHIC STORIES. 241 

with flowers, carried him with extraordinary 
pomp in grand processions, and rejoiced in 
him to the utmost. It was then that the horn 
was full. The ancient Persians had a similar 
festival of Aries. For all this it is hard to 
account except in connection with what was 
prophetically signified by Aries. But taken 
in relation to what the Scriptures foretell of 
the Lamb, in the period when He shall take 
to Him His great power for the deliverance 
and glorification of His Church, we can easily 
see how this would come to be one of the 
very gladdest and most exultant of the sacred 
feasts. It is when the Lamb thus comes upon 
the throne, and appears for the taking up of 
the deeds of the inheritance, the gladdest pe¬ 
riod in all the history of the Church and peo¬ 
ple of God is come. Then it is that the songs 
break forth in heaven in tremendous volume 
of Worthiness, and Blesssing, and Honor, and 
Glory to the Lamb for redeeming men by His 
blood, and making them kings and priests 
unto God, and certifying unto them that now 
they “ shall reign on the earth.” 

And when we turn to the accompanying 
Decans of this sign, the very work and do¬ 
ings ascribed to the Lamb in this entrance 
upon His great power are still more specific- 
21 Q 


242 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ally set before us, in which the joy in Him on 
the part of His Church and people comes to 
its culmination. The first of these is 

Cassiopeia. 

This is nothing less than a picture of the 
true Church of God lifted up out of all evils, 
bonds, and disabilities, and seated with her 
glorious Redeemer in heaven. The figure is 
that of a queenly woman, matchless in beauty, 
seated in exalted dignity, with her foot on the 
Arctic Circle, on which her chair likewise is 
set. In one hand she holds aloft the branch 
of victory and triumph, and with the other 
she is spreading and arranging her hair, as 
if preparing herself for some great public 
manifestation. Albumazer says this woman 
was anciently called “ the daughter of splen¬ 
dor,” hence “ the glorified woman.” Her 
common name is Cassiopeia , the beautiful, 
the enthroned; or, as Pluche derives the 
name, the Boundary of Typhori! s power , the 
Deliveredfrom all evil. The constellation it¬ 
self is one of the most beautiful in the heav¬ 
ens. 

“ Wide her stars 

Dispersed, nor shine with mutual aid improved; 

Nor dazzle, brilliant with contiguous flame : 

Their number fifty-five.” 


CASSIOPEIA. 


243 


Four stars of the third magnitude, which nev¬ 
er set, form the seat upon which this woman 
sits. The star on her right side is on the 
equinoctial colure, and on a straight line with 
A 1 Pherats in Andromeda’s cheek to the north 
pole. The constellation embraces a binary 
star, a triple star, a double star, a quadruple 
star, and an extraordinary number of star- 
clusters of similar constituents to the general 
field of greater stars. 

About three hundred years ago there oc¬ 
curred in this constellation what was a great 
mystery to astronomers. A star, surpassing 
in brilliancy and splendor all the fixed stars, 
suddenly appeared on the tenth of Novem¬ 
ber, 1572, and, after shining in continuous 
glory for sixteen months, disappeared, and 
has never since been seen, just as the Church 
disappears in the shadow of death, or is pres¬ 
ently to be caught away to the invisible world. 

And if there is any one constellation of 
the sky, or any figure among these celestial 
frescoes, specially fitted to be the symbol and 
representative of the Church, particularly in 
its enfranchised and glorified condition, it is 
this. The names are equally significant. The 
first star marking the figure of this woman 
is called Shedar, which means the Freed , and 


244 THE gospel in the stars. 

Ruchbah and Dat al Cursa, signifying the En¬ 
throned, the Seated. On her right hand is also 
the glorious star-crowned King, holding out 
his sceptre toward her, whilst all the accounts 
pronounce her his wife, just as the Scriptures 
everywhere describe the Church as affianced 
to Christ, hereafter to be married to Him as 
“ the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 

Cassiopeia is universally represented as 
the mother of Andromeda; and so the Apos¬ 
tle refers to the heavenly Church as the moth¬ 
er of the earthly Church. The Jerusalem 
that is above “ is the mother of us all.” The 
whole presentation is that of deliverance and 
heavenly triumph, precisely as we speak of 
the Church triumphant; and the ready-mak¬ 
ing is for the great marriage ceremonial. 
(Compare Rev. 19 : 7, 8.) 

The perfection of this woman’s beauty, 
fairer than Juno and the envy of all the 
nymphs of the sea, likewise answers exactly 
to the Scripture descriptions of the Church: 
“ Thy renown went forth among the heathen 
for thy beauty; for it was perfect through my 
comeliness, which I put upon thee, saith the 
Lord” (Ezek. 16:14). Christ is to present 
it to himself, “ a glorious Church, not having 
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy 


CETUS. 


245 


and without blemish” (Eph. 5 : 27). Cassio¬ 
peia is an enthroned queen; and this is also 
uniformly the biblical picture of the Church 
when once it comes to enter upon its prom¬ 
ised glory. John saw thrones, and they sat 
upon them, and they reigned with Christ. 
And it was further said that so “ they shall 
reign for ever and ever.” The Church is 
“ the queen in gold of Ophir” of which the 
Psalmist (45 : 9) so enthusiastically sung. 

Cetus. 

But when the time comes for the Church to 
enter upon her royal exaltation and authority, 
another very important and marked event is 
to occur. John beheld it in apocalyptic vision, 
and writes: “ I saw an angel come down from 
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit 
and a great chain in his hand. And he laid 
hold on the Dragon, that old Serpent, which 
is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a 
thousand years, and cast him into the bottom¬ 
less pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon 
him, that he should deceive the nations no 
more, till the thousand years are fulfilled; and 
after that he must be loosed a little season ” 
(Rev. 20 : 1-3). And this is pictorially given 
in the second Decan of Aries. 

21 * 


246 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

The picture is that of a great sea-monster 
(< Cetus ), the true Leviathan of Job and Isaiah, 
which covers the largest space of any one 
figure in the sky. It is a vast scaly beast, 
with enormous head, mouth, and front paws, 
and having the body and tail of a whale. It 
is generally called “the Whale” on our plani¬ 
spheres. It is an- animal of the waters and 
marshes, and the natural enemy and devourer 
of the fishes. It is the same which the sea- 
god sent to devour Andromeda, and hence 
the particular foe and persecutor of the 
Church. It is a downward constellation, bor¬ 
dering on the lower regions. One of its cha¬ 
racteristic stars, Mira , situated in the neck 
of the scaly monster, is the most wonderfully 
variable and unsteady in the heavens. From 
a star of the second magnitude it dwindles 
away so as to become invisible once in about 
every three hundred days, and Hevelius af¬ 
firms that it once disappeared for the space 
of four years. It is a striking symbol of the 
arch-Deceiver, and, singularly enough, its name 
means the Rebel. And what is specially re¬ 
markable in the case is, that the doubled end 
of the Band which upholds the Fishes, after 
passing the front foot or hand of the Lamb, 
is fastened on the neck of this monster, and 


CETUS. 


247 


holds him firmly bound. The name of the 
first of the Cetus stars, Menkar , refers to 
this; for Menkar means the chained Enemy . 
And so the name of the second star, Diphda , 
means the Overthrown, the Thrust-down. 

Satan is loose now. Peter writes: “Your 
adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion, walk- 
eth about, seeking whom he may devour ” 
(Pet. 5:8). God speaks of him, and puts the 
confounding questions: “ Canst thou draw out 
Leviathan with an hook ? or his tongue with 
the cord which thou lettest down ? Canst 
thou put a hook into his nose? or bore his 
jaw through with a thorn ? Will he make 
many supplications unto thee ? will he speak 
soft words unto thee ? Will he make a cov¬ 
enant with thee ? wilt thou take him for a 
servant for ever? Wilt thou play with him 
as with a bird ? or wilt thou bind him for thy 
maidens ? Shall thy companions make a ban¬ 
quet of him? shall they part him among the 
merchants? Canst thou fill his skin with 
barbed irons ? or his head with fish-spears ? 
Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not 
one be cast down even at the sight of him ? 
None is so fierce that dare stir him up ” (Job 
41 : 1-10). But he whom no man can take 
or bind, the Lamb has in His power, and will 


248 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

yet lay hold upon, and fasten with a great 
chain, from which he cannot break away. By 
the same power with which He upholds the 
Fishes He restrains the devouring Enemy; 
and with that same power He will yet fasten 
up the monster for final destruction. Of old, 
Isaiah prophesied of a day when “ the Lord 
with His sore and great and strong sword 
shall punish Leviathan the piercing Serpent, 
even Leviathan that crooked Serpent, and He 
shall slay the Dragon that is in the sea ” (Isa. 
27 : 1). And here we have the same fore- 
pictured in the stars, showing how the en¬ 
throned Lamb will bind and punish Leviathan, 
even as the written word of prophecy de¬ 
scribes. The sign in the heavens answers 
precisely to the descriptions in the Book, 
proving that one is of the same piece with the 
other, and that both are from the same eter¬ 
nal Spirit which has moved to show us things 
to come. 


•Perseus. 

But in still greater vigor and animation is 
this whole scene set out in the third accom¬ 
panying side-piece to this sign of the enthroned 
Lamb. Micah (2 : 12, 13) prophesies of a time 
when the flock of God shall be gathered, their 


PERSEUS. 


249 


King pass before them, and the Lord on the 
head of them; and says that this shall be 
when “ the Breaker is come up before them!' 
Whatever may have been in the foreground 
of this prediction, it is agreed that “ the Break¬ 
er ” here must needs be Christ, the very Lamb 
of our text, breaking the way of His people 
through all the doors and gates of their pres¬ 
ent imprisonment and disability, and dashing 
to pieces all the antagonizing powers which 
stand in the way of their full deliverance 
and redemption. So the Lamb in the Apoc¬ 
alypse is the Breaker of the seals and of apos¬ 
tate nations, the same as the Son in the sec¬ 
ond Psalm. And this Breaker, in these very 
acts, is the precise picture in this constel¬ 
lation. 

Here is the figure of a mighty man, step¬ 
ping with one foot on the brightest part of 
the Milky Way, wearing a helmet on his head 
and wings on his feet, holding aloft a great 
sword in his* right hand, and carrying away 
the blood-dripping head of the Gorgon in his 
left. His name in the constellation is Perets , 
Graecised Perses or Perseus , the same as in 
Micah’s prophecy— the Bi'eaker . The name 
of the star by his left foot is Atik, He who 
breaks . The name of the brightest middle 


250 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

star in the figure is Al Genib, the One who 
carries away, and Mirfak, Who helps . And 
when Perseus comes to the meridian the most 
brilliant portion of the starry heavens opens 
out its sublimest magnificence in the eastern 
hemisphere. 


The Myths. 

Now, one of the most beloved and admired 
of all the hero-gods of mythology was this 
Perseus. He was the son of the divine Father, 
who came upon Danae in the form of a shower 
of gold. No sooner was he born than he and 
his mother were put into a chest and cast into 
the sea; but Jupiter so directed that they were 
rescued by the fishermen on the coast of one 
of the Cyclades, and carried to the king, who 
treated them with great kindness, and entrust¬ 
ed to them the care of the temple of the god¬ 
dess of wisdom. His rising genius and great 
courage made him a favorite of the gods. At 
a great feast of the king, at whifch the nobles 
were expected to*make some splendid pres¬ 
ent to their sovereign, Perseus, who was so 
specially indebted to the king’s favors, not 
wishing to be behind the rest or feebler in 
his expressions than were his obligations, 
engaged to bring the head of Medusa, the 


THE MYTHS. 


251 


only one of the three horrible Gorgons sub¬ 
ject to mortality. 

These Gorgons were fabled beings, with 
bodies grown indissolubly together and cov¬ 
ered with impenetrable scales. They had 
tusks like boars, yellow wings, and brazen 
hands, and were very dangerous. Their 
heads were full of serpents in place of hair, 
and their very looks had power to turn to 
stone any one on whom they fixed their gaze. 
To equip Perseus for his expedition Pluto 
lent him his helmet, which had the power of 
rendering the wearer invisible; and Minerva 
furnished him with her buckler, resplendent 
as a polished mirror; and Mercury gave him 
wings for his feet and a diamond sword for 
his hand. Thus furnished, he mounted into 
the air, led by the goddess of wisdom, and 
came upon the tangled monsters. He, 

“ In the mirror of his polished shield 
Reflected, saw Medusa slumbers take, 

And not one serpent by good chance awake; 

Then backward an unerring ^Jow he sped, 

And from her body lopped at once her head.” 

Grasping the same in his left hand, he again 
mounted into the air, and 

“ O’er Lybia’s sands his airy journey sped; 

The gory drops distilled as swift he flew, 

And from each drop envenomed serpents grew.” 


252 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

By this victory he was rendered immortal, 
and took his place among the stars, ever 
holding fast the reeking head of the Gorgon. 
It was on his return from this brave deed that 
he saw the beautiful Andromeda chained to 
the rock, and the terrible monster of the sea 
advancing to devour her. On condition that 
she should become his wife, he broke her 
chains, plunged his sword into the monster 
that sought her life, fought off and turned to 
stone the tyrant Phineus who sought to pre¬ 
vent the wedding, and made Andromeda his 
bride, begetting many worthy sons and daugh¬ 
ters, and by varied administrations of mirac¬ 
ulous power changing portions of the earth 
and its governments and rulers, returning be¬ 
times to bless the countries that honored him. 

Perseus and Christ. 

No natural events in the seasons or in the 
history of man could ever serve as a founda¬ 
tion for such a story as this. Here is a di¬ 
vine-human son, begotten of a golden shower 
from the Deity, a child of affliction and perse¬ 
cution from his very birth, but predestined by 
the heavenly powers to live and triumph. By 
his high qualities he is made the keeper and 
conservator of the temple of wisdom and sa- 


PERSEUS AND CHRIST. 


253 


cred worship. Out of devotion to his king 
he undertakes to destroy the Gorgons as far 
as they are destructible. For this he descends 
into hell, and brings forth armor from thence. 
He is in communion with the divine wisdom, 
and thereby is girded in splendor and led un¬ 
erringly. He is winged, and given a diamond 
sword, as Heaven’s messenger and herald to 
undo the powers of evil and administer deliv¬ 
erance and prosperity. He wounds the dire 
Gorgons in the head, and carries off their 
power. He punishes Leviathan with his “sore 
and great and strong sword.” He breaks 
the bonds of Andromeda, and makes her his 
bride amid high festival, at which he puts 
down all opposition. And thereupon he goes 
forth to countries far and near, punishing and 
expelling tyrants and usurpers, rooting out 
untruth and corrupt worship, and blessing 
and rejoicing the city and kingdom of heroes. 
All this interprets with wonderful literalness 
and brilliancy when understood of the prom¬ 
ised Seed of the woman, the Lamb that was 
slain, going forward at the head of His people 
as the Breaker , bringing death and destruction 
to the monsters of evil, setting wronged cap¬ 
tives free, and joining them to himself in glory 
everlasting. Nor is there anything else of 
22 


254 THE gospel in the stars. 

which it will interpret or that can adequately 
account for the existence of the story. 

Medusa’s Head. 

And that we are so to understand this fig¬ 
ure is still further manifest in the facts and 
names in the reeking, snake-covered head 
grasped by the hero. Medusa means the 
Trodden under foot . The name of the prin¬ 
cipal star in this head, At Ghoul , contracted 
into Algol , means the Evil Spirit. The 
same is also a variable star, like Mira. It 
changes about every three days from a star 
of the second magnitude to one of the fourth, 
and makes its changes from one to the other 
in three and a half hours. Rosh Satan and 
At Oneh are other names of the stars in this 
head, which mean Satan's head,\ the Weaken¬ 
ed, the Subdued. And the invincible Subduer 
and Breaker is none other than “ the Lamb,” 
the biblical Peretz , the Persian Bershuash , tak¬ 
ing to himself His great power, and enforcing 
His saving dominion and authority for the 
full redemption of His people. 

The Church’s Hope. 

With great vividness, beauty, and fulness 
does this sign of Aries thus symbolize the 


THE CHURCH'S HOPE. 


255 


blessed outcome of the Church, whose earthly 
estate and career were signified in the three 
preceding. Out of the sacrificial death and 
mediation of the Seed of the woman, the 
slain Lamb, the Church obtains its being. By 
the unfailing stream of the spiritual waters, 
which pour down from heaven as the fruit of 
His mediatorial intercession, it is quickened 
into life and celestial fellowship. By the 
bands of royal power with which He has 
been crowned at the right hand of eternal 
Majesty it is upheld, directed, and governed 
amid this sea of earthly existence, turmoil, 
danger, and temptation. Helpless in its own 
strength, despised, hated, threatened by the 
serpents of Medusa’s head, and exposed to 
the attacks of the monster lord of this world, 
it is still sustained and preserved by the right 
hand of Him whose is the dominion. And 
the time is coming when He who walks amid 
the golden candlesticks and holds in His hand 
the seven stars shall lift the title-deed of its 
inheritance, and call its members up from this 
doomed world to meet Him in the air, whilst 
He proceeds to punish and dash in pieces all 
enemies, cutting off Medusa’s head, putting 
Leviathan in bonds, and lifting the chained 
Andromeda to Cassiopeia’s starry throne. 


256 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

And then it is that all heaven rings with the 
song, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and bless¬ 
ing whilst all creation thrills with “ Bless¬ 
ing, and honor, and glory, and power, unto 
Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto 
the Lamb for ever and ever.” 

Dear friends, may I not here turn to ask, 
Have you been brought into fellowship and 
communion with this Church and congrega¬ 
tion of the Lord ? If so, then thank God for 
it, and be glad before Him that He has be¬ 
stowed upon you so great a favor. Bless 
His name for the grace that has led you into 
those holy gates, and for the treasures and 
dignities of which He has thus made you 
heirs. Trials, dangers, and disabilities may 
be upon you now, but the Lamb is in' the 
midst of the throne to uphold, protect, and 
comfort you, and by His blood and interces¬ 
sion you are safe. Cling to Him and His 
golden fleece, and no malignity of the De¬ 
stroyer shall ever be able to touch a hair of 
your head. Wait and pray on in patience 
and in hope ; the victorious Perseus comes 
for your deliverance and to share with you 
His own triumphant immortality. 


THE CHURCH'S HOPE. 2$y 

Or does die present moment find you still 
lingering without the gates, and far aside 
from the assembly and congregation of God’s 
flock ? These starry lights that look down 
so lovingly upon you are hung with admoni¬ 
tions of your danger, and in diamond utter¬ 
ance point you to the better way. “ There is 
no speech nor language, their voice is not 
heard; but their line is gone out through all 
the earth, and their words to the end of the 
world,” marking out the tabernacle of the 
Sun of Righteousness, in which alone there 
is covenanted safety and salvation for ex¬ 
posed and helpless man. In full harmony 
with the written Book night by night they 
hold forth their pictorial showings to corrob¬ 
orate the testimony of Prophets and Apostles, 
that the erring seed of Adam may learn wis¬ 
dom, enter the chambers of security, and shut 
themselves in to life and glory against the 
time when the Breaker shall come. The 
light-bearers in the sky join with the light- 
bearers in the Church in giving out the one 
great testimony of God : “ He that believeth 
on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that be¬ 
lieveth not the Son shall not see life ; but the 
wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3 : 36). 

22* R 


iLecture (S-lebentij. 


THE DAY OF THE LORD. 


Ps. 92 : 10: “ My horn shalt Thou exalt like the horn of an uni¬ 
corn. •’ 


ANY of the Jewish writers and the 



ivi Jewish Targum ascribe the author¬ 
ship of this psalm to Adam, the first man. 
The Jewish ritual appointed it as the special 
psalm for the Sabbath day. It celebrates, 
first of all, the glories and blessings of crea¬ 
tion. It then anticipates a period of great 
apostasy, wickedness, and prosperity to the 
enemies of Jehovah. But beyond that it 
contemplates the speedy and invincible over¬ 
throw and destruction of the workers of in¬ 
iquity, followed by a glorious Sabbath of 
everlasting righteousness and peace. And 
in connection with the violent scattering and 
perishing of the enemies of the Lord it par¬ 
ticularly emphasizes a special and peculiar 
exaltation of the power and dominion of the 
Messiah, who speaks in the Psalmist, and 
says that His “horn ”—His power, His ac- 


258 


THE UNICORN, OR REEM. 


259 


tive dominion—shall be “ like the horn of an 
unicorn” 


The Unicorn, or Reem. 

It has long been a question what animal 
is meant by the Reem , which is so often re¬ 
ferred to in the ancient Scriptures, and which 
translators have generally called the unicorn. 
But modern research and discovery have 
served to clear up the subject in a manner 
entirely satisfactory. The reem is not a one¬ 
horned creature, like the rhinoceros, as has 
generally been supposed, but a pure animal 
of the ox kind, though wild, untamable, fierce, 
and terrible. Two passages prove that it 
was a great two-horned and mighty creature, 
now, so far as known, entirely extinct, but 
once common in North-western Asia, As¬ 
syria, and Middle Europe. Remains of it 
have of late years been discovered in the 
north of Palestine, and Caesar, in the account 
of his wars, describes it as being hunted in 
the Hercynian forest in his day. It was known 
as the primeval ox, or wild bull, different alto¬ 
gether from the bison or the great antelope, 
sometimes taken for it. It was a formidable 
animal, “ scarcely less than the elephant in 
size, but in nature, color, and form a true ox.” 


260 the gospel in the stars. 

Its strength and speed were very great, and 
it was so fierce that it did not spare man or 
beast when it caught sight of them. It was 
wholly intractable, and could not be habitu¬ 
ated to man, no matter how young it was 
taken. This fact is set out in the book of 
Job (39:9-12), where it is said: “Will the 
reem be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy 
crib ? Canst thou bind the reem with his band 
in the furrow ? or will he harrow the valleys 
after thee ? Wilt thou trust him because his 
strength is great ? or wilt thou leave thy labor 
to him ? Wilt thou believe him that he will 
bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy 
barn ?” 

This animal was particularly distinguished 
for its great, outspread, sharp, and irresistible 
horns, to which the horns of ordinary oxen 
were not to be compared. Hence Caesar 
says, when a hunter succeeded in killing one, 
pitfalls being the chief means of capture, he 
made a public exhibition of the horns as the 
trophies of his success, and was the wonder 
and praise of all who beheld. Joseph (Deut. 
33 : 17), in his superiority of power, is likened 
to the reem, of which his two sons, Ephraim 
and Manasseh, were the two great horns which 
were to push the people to the ends of the 


THE UNICORN, OR RE EM. 261 

earth. And to this mighty, untamable, and 
invincible primeval ox the Messiah compares 
himself in connection with the great judg¬ 
ment upon the wicked world; for then His 
horn shall be exalted like the horn of a 
reem. Toward His Church He is the Lamb, 
but toward the unsanctified world He finally 
becomes the terrible reem. 

But, what is very marvellous, the picture 
which the Messiah appropriates to himself so 
exultingly in the text is precisely the picture 
which is presented in the sign of the Zodiac 
which now comes before us—the sign of Tait- 
rus y the first of the final quaternary in the 
celestial circle. 

I have already explained that the twelve 
Zodiacal signs are arranged in three sets of 
four each, each set having a particular sub¬ 
ject of its own in the grand evangelic history. 
In the first set we were shown the Seed of 
the woman in His own personal character 
and offices. In the second set we were 
shown the formation, career, and destiny of 
the Church. And in the third set, upon which 
we now enter, we are shown the great judg¬ 
ment-period and the completion of the whole 
mystery of God respecting our world and 
race. 


262 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


The Judgment. 

I may also remark here that it is a great 
mistake to conceive of the judgment-time as 
limited to a period of twenty-four hours. It 
is called “ the day of judgment ” only after the 
manner in which “ the day that the Lord made 
the earth and the heavens ” is spoken of as a 
day. The day of judgment is simply the pe¬ 
riod or time of the judgment. The common 
notion on the subject, which crowds up every¬ 
thing in one grand assize, is wholly at vari¬ 
ance with the Scriptures, and a source of end¬ 
less troubles to expositors in attempting to 
construe the very numerous and very diverse 
prophecies which refer to it. It can be clearly 
demonstrated, from the teachings of Christ 
and His Apostles, as well as from the ancient 
prophets, that everything does not end with 
the termination of the present Church period, 
and that the end or consummation itself in¬ 
cludes a variety of administrations, in most 
of which the glorified saints are to take 
active part. 

And what is thus set forth in the Scriptures 
is correspondingly represented in the signs 
as given in the primeval astronomy. Four 
of the Zodiacal signs set forth the career of 


THE SIGN OF TAURUS. 


263 


the Church up to the time of its transfer to 
glory, when, under the great power of the 
Lamb, the chained and exposed Andromeda 
is transformed into the enthroned Cassiopeia. 
But beyond that we still have four additional 
signs before all is finally complete. These 
begin and end with scenes of judgment, and 
so relate to a great judgment-period, which 
begins at the house of God by the ereption 
of God’s ready and waiting saints to himself 
in the heavenly regions, and then breaks in 
fury upon the ungodly population still left 
upon the earth. And then it is that Jehovah’s 
enemies shall perish, and all the workers of 
iniquity be scattered, and the horn of the Seed 
of the woman be exalted like the horn of the 
reem , to fulfil all His desire upon His foes; 
which is the precise'scene pictorially repre¬ 
sented in 


The Sign of Taurus. 

The names of this sign, in Hebrew, Arabic, 
Syriac, Latin, and Greek, mean the same as 
the English name, the Bull. But the figure 
is not that of the common bull of any known 
class. The horns are greater and differently 
set from those of domestic cattle, whilst the 
toes also have horns. The attitude and en- 


264 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ergy displayed are likewise far fiercer and 
more nimble than the common ox ever shows. 
It is the reem of the text, the aurochs, the bull 
of yore, the fierce, mighty, and untamable wild 
bull of the primeval ages, and a most expres¬ 
sive symbol of Christ as the irresistible and 
angry Judge. 

This terrific animal appears here in the in- 
tensest rage, dashing forward with swift and 
impetuous energy, and with his great sharp 
horns set as if to run through everything that 
comes in its way. The Egyptians called it by 
names signifying the Head\ the Captain, the 
mighty Chieftain who cometh. The chief star 
in this sign is situated in the Bull’s eye; and 
its name, Al Debar an, means the Captam, 
Leader, or Governor . The middle and hinder 
part of the enraged animal includes the body 
of the enthroned Lamb, out of which it seems 
to rise. It is also the direct opposite of the 
Scorpion, so that when it rises the Scorpion 
sets and disappears. 

The Myths. 

In mythology this Bull was always account¬ 
ed snow-white, the color of righteousness and 
royal judgment. According to some of the 
accounts, this form was assumed by Jupiter 


THE MYTHS. 


265 


out of his passion for the beautiful Europa, 
whom he won by his gentleness and bore on 
his back across the seas to Crete. The god 
of the sea demanded that he should be offered 
in sacrifice, but because of his beauty the king 
preserved him. Afterward he became mad, 
and wrought great havoc and destruction 
among the Cretans, and could neither be 
caught nor tamed except by Herakles. 

This story remarkably interprets with refer¬ 
ence to Christ and His Church, and the anger 
with which He is to visit the wicked world 
after the Church of the first-born has been 
safely landed in heaven. The same becomes 
the more striking when we take in some other 
markings of the case. 

Among the early nations there was a wide¬ 
spread idea connecting this Bull with the Del¬ 
uge, and the Pleiades —the seven stars, the 
Doves, the peculiar star-cluster of “ sweet in¬ 
fluences ”—with the ark of Noah and those 
saved by it in that great judgment. “The 
seven stars,” which the Scriptures also con¬ 
nect with the Church (Rev. 1:16; 2:1), are 
on the back of this Bull, high up on his great 
shoulder. The Pleiades , according to the 
myths, were the seven daughters of Atlas, 
the upholder of heaven and earth, who, with 

23 


266 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

their sisters, the Hyades , in this Bull’s head, 
were placed in heaven because of their vir¬ 
tues and mutual sympathy and affection. 
They beautifully symbolize the saints secure¬ 
ly supported by the terrible Judge, and who, 
together with the holy angels whom they are 
like, thus move with Him and His inflictions 
upon the guilty world. 

The Sacred Prophecies. 

And when we take this fierce and enraged au¬ 
rochs as the symbol of the glorious Head of His 
redeemed people, particularly in those scenes* 
of judgment upon the apostate and unbeliev¬ 
ing nations after the saints have been taken 
away, we have before our eyes in the stars 
the very picture which Isaiah describes where 
he prophesies of “ the world, and all the things 
that come forth of it,” and says: “ The indig¬ 
nation of the Lord is upon all nations, and 
His fury upon all their armies. He hath de¬ 
livered them to the slaughter. Their slain 
also shall be cast out, and the mountains shall 
be melted with their blood. The miicorns \the 
reems , the precise animal which constitutes the 
figure in Taurus ] shall come down, and the 
bullocks with the bulls, and their land shall be 
soaked with blood. For it is the day of the 


SACRED PROPHECIES. 267 

Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses 
for the controversy of Zion ”(34 : 2-8). 

The Scriptures everywhere tell us of a pe¬ 
riod of indignation, when the Lord shall come 
forth out of His place to punish the inhabitants 
of the earth for their iniquity; when He will 
no longer keep silence; when the earth shall 
disclose her blood, and shall no more cover 
her slain (Isa. 26: 20, 21). He is very long- 
suffering now. Men sin, but His judgment 
does not quickly follow upon transgression. 
Sin is added upon sin, and wickedness upon 
•wickedness, and yet the Lord keeps silence, 
not willing that any should perish, but that all 
should come to repentance. But there is a 
limit to His forbearance. There is a time 
coming when He will tear in pieces, and there 
shall be none to deliver. His own word is: 
“ Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel 
both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the 
land desolate, and to destroy the sinners there¬ 
of out of it. And I will punish the world for 
their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; 
and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud 
to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of 
the terrible. The earth shall remove out of 
her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, 
and in the day of His fierce anger. Every 


268 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


one that is found shall be thrust through ” 
(Isa. 13). 

These are fearful comminations. And 
lest we should think that they refer only to 
the past, the New Testament repeats them, 
and tells us how “the Lord Jesus shall be re¬ 
vealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 
in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that 
know not God, and that obey not the Gospel ” 
(2 Thess. 1 : 7-9); and how the kings of the 
earth, and the great men, and the rich men, 
and the chief captains, and the mighty men, 
and every bondman, and every freeman, will 
hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks 
of the mountains, calling to the mountains 
and rocks, “ Fall on us, and hide us from the 
face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great 
day of His wrath is come; and who shall be 
able to stand?” (Rev. 6: 12-17). Alas, alas, 
for the wicked, the unbelieving, and the im¬ 
penitent when that day comes ! For the horn 
of Messiah shall then be like the horn of the 
enraged aurochs, and there will be no escape 
from His fury. 


Orion. 

Very impressively also do we find the same 


ORION. 


269 

still further signified in the constellation of 
the first Decan of this animated sign. This 
is one of the grandest of the constellations, 
and so beautifully splendid that when it is 
once learned it is never forgotten. When 
it comes to the meridian a very magnificent 
view of the celestial bodies presents itself 
above the horizon. It is specially celebrated 
in the book of Job, and is mentioned in Artios 
and in Homer. And because of its great 
magnificence the flatterers of conquerors like 
Nimrod and Napoleon selected it for asso¬ 
ciation with the names of these men. 

The figure is a giant hunter, with a mighty 
club in his right hand in the act of striking, 
and in his left the skin of a slain lion. 

“ First in rank 

The martial star upon his shoulder flames; 

A rival star illuminates his foot; 

And on his girdle beams a luminary 
Which in vicinity of other stars 
Might claim the proudest honors.” 

His left foot is in the act of crushing the 
head of the enemy. He wears a brilliant 
starry girdle to which hangs a mighty sword, 
the hilt or handle of which is the head and 
body of the Lamb. Concerning the idolatrous 
and the wicked, God hath said: “ Behold, I 
will send for many fishers, and they shall fish 


270 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

them; and after will I send for many hunters, 
and they shall hunt them from every moun¬ 
tain, and from every hill, and out of the holes 
of the rocks ; for mine eyes are upon all their 
ways: they are not hid from my face, neither 
is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. I will 
recompense their iniquity and their sin double” 
(Jer. 16 : 16-18). And here is the great Cap¬ 
tain and Prince of these hunters in full and 
mighty action. His name is Orion , He who 
cometh forth as light , the Brilliant , the Swift . 
The book of Job speaks of Him as invin¬ 
cibly girded, whose bands no one can un¬ 
loose. Betelguese , a star of the first mag¬ 
nitude, flames on His right shoulder; and 
Betelguese means The Branch coming. Bigel , 
another star of the first magnitude, flames in 
His lifted foot; and Rigel means the Foot 
that crusheth. In His great belt are three 
shining brilliants, called the Three Kings , also 
Jacob's Rod (Isa. 11:1), also the Ell and Yard , 
giving the rule of celestial and righteous meas¬ 
urement, just as it is said of the Rod and 
Branch from Jesse’s roots, “Righteousness 
shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithful¬ 
ness the girdle of His reins” (Isa. 11:5). 
In His left breast shines a bright star, Bella- 
trix , which means Swiftly coming or Suddenly 


MYTHS ON ORION 


271 


destroying. The Arabs call Him Al Giauza , 
the Branch ; Al Mirzam , the Ruler; Al Nag- 
jed , the Prince. He is but another figure of 
the same invincible Avenger represented by 
the enraged aurochs—the horn of the Mes¬ 
siah exalted into the horn of the terrible 
aurochs. 


Myths on Orion. 

According to the myths, though full of con¬ 
fusion and contradictions, Orion was the united 
gift of the gods, Jupiter, Neptune, and Mer¬ 
cury, and had power to walk the sea without 
wetting his feet, and surpassed in strength, 
stature, and handsomeness all other men. 
He is described as the greatest hunter in the 
world, who claimed to be able to cope with 
and conquer every animal on earth. Because 
of this claim, a scorpion sprang up out of the 
earth and gave him a mortal wound in his 
foot; but at Diana’s request he was raised to 
immortality, and placed in the heavens over 
against the Scorpion. He is spoken of as 
skilled in the working and handling of iron, 
as having fabricated a subterranean abode 
for the god of fires, and as having walled in 
Sicily against the inundations of the sea, 
building thereon a temple to its gods. It is 


272 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

said of him that because he loved Merope 
her father put out his eyes while he was 
asleep on the sea-shore, but that, by raising 
himself on the back of a forgeman and turn¬ 
ing his face to the rising sun, he recovered 
his sight, and went forth with great haste, 
rage, and energy to avenge the perfidious 
cruelty of his foes. He is said to have great¬ 
ly loved the Pleiadic maiden, and that out of 
affection for her he performed the great work 
of clearing the country of all noxious wild 
beasts, bringing the spoils of his successes 
as presents to his beloved. 

There is much rubbish and heathen un¬ 
cleanness in some of the accounts, but the 
filthy waters nevertheless reflect the pure im¬ 
age. Christ was born of a woman, as some 
accounts allege of Orion ; and he was at the 
same time the peculiar gift of Deity to our 
world, as alleged by other accounts of this 
hero of the constellation. He was indeed 
the greatest and sublimest of all men. He 
did claim to be able to destroy, and came 
into the world that He might destroy, all the 
mighty powers of evil and all the works of 
the Devil. On this account He was stung- 
by the Scorpion of death. Because of His 
love for the Church He did sink into a 


ERIDANUS. 


273 


deep sleep upon these shores of time, in 
which the light of His eyes was extinguished, 
but was restored to Him again by His lifting 
up from the grave. He was in the world, and 
passed through it without being wetted or 
soiled by its waters. He is indeed stationed 
in immortal glory as the everlasting plague, 
enemy, and destroyer of death. He it is 
who has made ready the lake of fire for the 
Devil and his angels. He is the Protector of 
the land of His Church, and the Builder of 
the temple of its worship and security. And 
so it is also appointed to Him to come forth 
in His mighty power and vengeance, to bring 
swift destruction upon His cruel foes, and to 
hunt out all the noxious wild beasts that in¬ 
fest the earth, that he may clear it for ever 
of their presence, bestowing all the fruits of 
His victories upon the Church which He has 
purchased with His blood. 

Eridanus. 

The second Decan of this illustrious sign 
carries forward the same idea to still further 
lengths. From beneath the down-coming foot 
of Orion, from under the feet of the rampant 
aurochs, and from before both, there flows 
out a great tortuous river, eastward and west- 
s 


274 THE gospel in the stars. 

ward, and down into the regions of darkness 
in the under-wo rid. Its name is Eridanus , the 
River of the Judge. It is specially connected 
in the myths with a confusion in the manage¬ 
ment of the chariot of the Sun, by which 
heaven and earth were threatened with a 
universal conflagration, during which trouble 
the vain and obtrusive Phaeton was killed by 
a thunderbolt and hurled headlong into this 
river, in which his body burned and consumed 
with fire, whilst at the same time such burning 
heat fell upon the world that it dried up the 
blood of the Ethiops and turned vast sections 
into sterility and emptiness. 

In Daniel’s vision of the four beasts, and 
of God’s judgment of them, we find this same 
River of the Judge. Having described the 
several world-monsters and their ill-doings, 
the Prophet says: “ I beheld till the thrones 
were set, and the Ancient of days did sit: 
His throne was like the fiery flame, and His 
wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream [a river 
of fire] issued and came forth from before him .” 
It is the River of the Judge, for we read, “ The 
judgment was set, and the books were open¬ 
ed.” And the Prophet “beheld even till the 
beast was slain, and his body destroyed , and 
given to the burning flame ” (Dan. 7:9-11). 


ER1DANUS. 


275 


So we also read in the Psalms (50: 3) : “ Our 
God shall come, and shall not keep silence: 
a fire shall devour before Him , and it shall be 
very tempestuous round about Him “A fire 
goeth before Him , and burnetii up His enemies 
round about Him ” (97 : 3-5). 

So again in Isaiah it is written: “ Behold, 
the name of the Lord cometh from far, burn¬ 
ing with His anger, and the burden thereof is 
heavy: His lips are full of indignation, and 
His tongue as a devouring fire: and His 
breath as an overflowing stream [of fire~\. 
Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king 
it is prepared: He hath made it deep and 
large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood ; 
the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brim¬ 
stone , doth kindle it ” (30:27-33); “For, be¬ 
hold, the Lord will come with fire, .and with 
His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His 
anger with, fury, and His rebuke with flames 
of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the 
Lord plead with all flesh ; and the slain of the 
Lord shall be many” (66: 15, 16). “Who 
can stand before His indignation ? and who 
can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His 
fury is poured out like fire ” (Nah. 1 .*5, 6). 

And so, also, “when the Son of man shall 
sit upon the throne of His glory ” the nations 


276 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

which did not the works of faith and charity 
shall go away “ into everlasting fire , prepared 
for the Devil and his angels” (Matt. 25 : 31-* 
41). Nay, saith the holy Apostle, “The day 
of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night; in 
the which the heavens shall pass with a great 
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent 
heat , the earth also and the works that are there¬ 
in shall be burned ” (2 Pet. 3:10). 

Here, then, is the true Eridanus , and the 
fate of the proud and presumptuous Phaeton 
and all his usurped rule. The River of Fire, 
issuing from before Taurus and Orion, shall 
receive them and burn them up in unquench¬ 
able flames. The burning breath of the angry 
Judge shall sweep them headlong to “ the lake 
which burneth with fire and brimstone , which is 
the second death” (Rev. 20: 14, 15). 

These are very dark, painful, and terrifying 
presentations; but they are true pictures, ex¬ 
actly the same both in the Scriptures and in 
the constellations. They are given in these 
alarming terms and figures that wicked, care¬ 
less, and indifferent people may take warning, 
turn away from their follies and sins, and flee 
to the refuge set before us in the blessed Gos¬ 
pel of Christ. And if any man have ears to 
hear, let him hear. 


MERCY IN JUDGMENT. 277 

But the presentations are not all terror and 
hopelessness. 

Mercy in Judgment. 

Although the present Church-period will 
have ended before the promised Seed of the 
woman takes on the character described in 
the text and in these signs, probation will not 
have entirely ended. The possibility of se¬ 
curing salvation will not yet have been com¬ 
pletely cut off. Though the dispensation is 
then changed from that of the present silent 
forbearance and long-suffering on God’s part 
into one of active and terrific judgment, and 
though all chance of reaching the first honors 
of the kingdom will then have passed away 
for ever, there still will be a chance for being 
“ saved so as by fireand many there will be 
who will also embrace that remaining oppor¬ 
tunity. 

In the very nature of things the breaking 
in of the great and terrible fact that the day 
of judgment is come, and with the startling 
and convincing proofs of its actual presence 
spread all around, there cannot but be some 
awakening and revolutionizing effect on the 
hearts and thinking of multitudes who up till 
then have made themselves very easy about 

24 


278 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

these matters of salvation. Hence Isaiah 
prophesied : “When Thy judgments are in the 
earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn 
righteousness” (26: 29). So also the Psalm¬ 
ist (64 : 7-9) says: When God shall shoot 
His arrows at them that encourage themselves 
in evil, and shall suddenly wound them, “men 
shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; 
for they shall wisely consider His doing.” 
And again: “ Thy people shall be willing in 
the day of Thy power” (110:3). So also 
Daniel prophesies of this very time, and says: 
“ Many shall be purified, and made white, and 
tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and 
none of the wicked shall understand; but the 
wise shall understand” (Dan. 12 : 8-10). The 
wicked shall not understand, seeing, as Paul 
says, that because they received not the love 
of the truth, God sendeth them a working of 
error, that they may believe a lie, and be ir¬ 
remediably condemned (2 Thess. 2 : 10—12). 
Accordingly, we also read in the Apocalypse, 
after the ready and waiting saints have been 
caught up and crowned in heaven, and the 
great tribulation has already set in upon the 
earth, of “a great multitude” who were un¬ 
prepared when the first scenes of the judg¬ 
ment broke in, but still succeed in rectifying 


AURIGA. 


279 


their errors, wash their soiled robes in the 
blood of the Lamb, and reach the world of 
the redeemed, though they never get crowns. 
And what we find thus set forth in the Scrip¬ 
tures is likewise signified in the constellations. 

Auriga. 

To the enraged Aurochs, the mighty Hunt¬ 
er, and the fiery River of the Judge there is 
added another figure in the third Decan, which 
is thoroughly evangelic and gracious. The 
Greek myths are totally at a loss with regard 
to its main features, conclusively showing that 
these signs were arranged long before the 
time of the Greeks, and that Greek genius 
was totally incompetent to produce them. 
The Greeks could only preserve the tradi¬ 
tional figure in this Decan, and let it stand 
wholly unexplained. The figure itself is that 
of a mighty man seated on the Milky Way, 
holding a band or ribbon in his right hand, 
and with his left arm holding up on his shoul¬ 
der a she-goat, which clings to his neck and 
looks out in astonishment upon the terrible 
Bull; whilst in his lap are two frightened little 
kids, which he supports with his great hand. 
The Greeks called him Hceniochos , which in 
their language signified a Driver or Chariot - 


280 the gospel in the stars. 

eer; and so our modern atlases call him the 
Wagoner. But as he has neither chariot nor 
horses, and is thoroughly occupied with the 
care of his goats, it is very strange that the 
modern world should have persisted in re¬ 
garding him as a chariot-driver. But there 
is one link of connection to show how this 
absurdity came about. One of the old tradi¬ 
tional names of this figure was Auriga , or a 
name framed of the elements preserved in 
the word Auriga , which, in Latin, means a 
Conductor of the reins , a coachman, a char¬ 
ioteer. And as this figure holds a band or 
ribbon in his right hand, these heathen people 
could do no better than to take him for a 
wonderful charioteer. But he is no char¬ 
ioteer at all, and is engaged in performing 
a wholly different office. 

The Noetic elements in the word Auriga sig¬ 
nify the Shepherd; and the Shepherd he really 
is, even that same Good Shepherd who laid 
down His life for the sheep and giveth unto 
them eternal life. This is most clearly shown 
by His having the mother-goat on His arm, 
with her feet clasped about His neck, and the 
little kids on His hand. The band in his 
right hand is the same Band which we saw in 
the hand of the Lamb and in the hand of the 


AURIGA. 


281 


enthroned Cepheus. It is the Band of power 
by which the glorious Head of the Church 
upholds and guides His people on the one 
side, and binds the enemy on the other. It 
is therefore a picture of the exalted and al¬ 
mighty Saviour, still exercising His offices of 
mercy and salvation in the midst of the scenes 
of judgment, just as the Scriptures tell us 
that in the midst of wrath He remembers 
mercy (Hab. 3:2). And to this all the indi¬ 
cations in this sign agree. 

The chief star in this constellation, Capella , 
which is of the first magnitude and of pecu¬ 
liar brilliancy, marks the heart of the mother- 
goat on Auriga’s bosom. The very attitude 
and expression of this goat are significant. It 
not only clings to the great Shepherd’s neck, 
as if trembling for its own safety, but is anx¬ 
iously looking back upon the action of the 
Bull, as if saying, “ I have seen the wicked in 
great power, and spreading himself like a 
green bay tree; yet he passed away, and, lo, 
he is not: yea, I look for him, but he cannot 
be found” (Ps. 37:34-36). The whole pic¬ 
ture is in precise accord with Isaiah’s proph¬ 
ecy of this very period, where he says : “ Be¬ 
hold, the Lord will come with strong hand, 
and His arm shall rule for Him : behold, His 


24* 


282 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


reward is with Him and His work before Him. 
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd : He 
shall gather the lambs with His arm , and cany 
them in His bosom , and shall gently lead those that 
give suck ” (40 : 10, 11). Hence the name of 
the star in the right arm of Auriga, Menkal- 
inon, , in Chaldaic means the Band of the Goats 
or Ewes. 

In the Zodiac of Dendera, Auriga holds a 
sceptre, the upper part of which shows the 
head of the Lamb, and the lower part the 
figure of the Cross; which vividly expresses 
salvation even under the severe administra¬ 
tions of sovereign judgment. And here are 
the two little kids, just born, having come into 
place amid these ongoings of the terrible judg¬ 
ment, the one bleating upward after its moth¬ 
er, and the other looking in startled wonder 
at the dashing career of the enraged Bull, but 
both safe in the great Shepherd’s hand. How 
touching the picture of the tender mercies of 
our Saviour, even after the Church of the first¬ 
born has been taken, and He has already risen 
up as the terrible Aurochs! 

A Solemn Outlook. 

And now what shall we say to these showings 
of the Holy Ghost? There is a day of judg- 


A SOLEMN OUTLOOK. 283 

ment coming, and it hastens on apace. It will 
be a day of trouble and an hour of trial such 
as have never yet been seen in our world. 
It will be a day that shall burn as an oven ; 
and all the proud, yea, all that do wickedly, 
shall be as stubble to the fire; and the day 
that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord 
of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root 
nor branch (Mai. 4:1). Only they that take 
refuge in Jesus shall find shelter and security. 
And on the throne of His majesty in the 
heavens He sits with wide-open arms, saying, 
“ Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take 
my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; and ye 
shall find rest unto your souls ” (Matt. 11 : 
28, 29). From the eternal Father the word 
is: “Unto you that fear my name shall the 
Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in 
His wings; and ye shall go forth and grow 
up as calves of the stall; and ye shall tread 
down the wicked; for they shall be ashes un¬ 
der the soles of your feet in the day that I do 
this, saith the Lord ” (Mai. 4: 2, 3). 

How, then, should these presentations serve 
to quicken us to spirituality of living and to 
all earnestness of watchfulness and prayer, 
that we may be found of Him ‘in peace, with- 


284 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

out spot, and blameless! And how should 
the same animate our hopes as believers, and 
reconcile us to whatever sacrifices, pains, or 
losses to which our profession may subject us 
in this present evil world! What saith the 
Spirit? Hear it, dear friends, and ponder it: 

“ Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, 
neither be thou envious against the workers 
of iniquity; for they shall soon be cut down 
like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 
Trust in the Lord, and do good ; so shalt thou 
dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 
For evil-doers shall be cut off: but those that 
wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the 
earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked 
shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently con¬ 
sider his place, and it shall not be. For 
the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not 
His saints; they are preserved for ever. 
Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He 
shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the 
wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. The sal¬ 
vation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is 
their strength in the time of trouble. And the 
Lord shall help them, and deliver them: He 
shall deliver them from the wicked, and save 
them, because they trust in Him” (Ps. 37). 


JLcctuve jriurlfdj 


THE HEAVENLY UNION. 


I Thess. 4:17: “ And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 



HESE sweet and comforting words re- 


X late to a scene of things beyond the res¬ 
urrection of the dead, and hence to something 
which is to be brought about during the prog¬ 
ress of the judgment-period. After the Lord 
himself has come forth with the voice of a 
great trumpet, and the holy dead have been 
raised, and the living saints have been trans¬ 
lated, and both classes have been caught up to¬ 
gether to meet the Saviour in the air, then the 
word is, “ So shall we ever be with the Lord!' 
And the particular blessedness which we thus 
find set forth in the Scriptures we also find in 
the constellations, and more especially in that 
sign of the Zodiac which we now come to con¬ 
sider— Gemini , usually called The Twins. 

The Sign of Gemini. 

We have here two youthful-looking and 

285 


286 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

most beautiful figures peacefully sitting to¬ 
gether, with their feet resting on the Milky 
Way. Their heads lean against each other 
in a loving attitude. The one holds a great 
club in his right hand, whilst his left is clasped 
around the body of his companion. The other 
holds a harp in one hand and a bow and arrow 
in the other. Both the club and the bow and 
arrow are in repose, the same as the figures 
which hold them. The club, unlifted, lies 
against the shoulder of the one, and the bow, 
unstrung, rests in the hand of the other. The 
picture looks like a readiness for warlike ac¬ 
tion, but at the same time like a joyful repose 
after a great victory already gained. We will 
presently see that it really means all that it 
seems, and that it significantly portrays what 
is set forth in the text and in many places in 
the Scriptures. 

Mythic Accounts. 

The Greeks and Romans considered these 
two figures the representatives of two youths, 
twin brothers, both sons of Jupiter, of very 
peculiar and extraordinary birth. They are 
said to have been with the Argonauts in the 
contest for the Golden Fleece, on which oc¬ 
casion they displayed unparalleled heroism— 


MYTHIC ACCOUNTS. 


287 


the one by achievements in arms and person¬ 
al prowess, and the other in equestrian exer¬ 
cises. In the Grecian temples they were rep¬ 
resented as mounted on white horses, armed 
with spears, riding side by side, crowned with 
the cap of the hunter tipped with a glittering 
star. The belief was, that they often appear¬ 
ed at the head of the armies, and led on the 
troops to battle and victory—the one mounted 
on a fiery steed, the other on foot, but both as 
invincible warriors. After their return from 
Colchis it is said that they cleared the Helles¬ 
pont and the neighboring seas from pirates 
and depredators, and hence were honored as 
the particular friends and protectors of navi¬ 
gation. An intimation of this is given in the 
history of St. Paul, as the name of the vessel 
in which he sailed was that of these two fig¬ 
ures. It is further said that flames of fire were 
betimes seen playing around their heads, and 
that when this occurred the tempest which 
was tossing the ocean ceased, and calm en¬ 
sued. They were said to have been initiated 
into all the mysteries, and were invited guests 
at a great marriage at which a severe conflict 
occurred. They were indissolubly attached 
to each other, and Jupiter rewarded their mu¬ 
tual affection by transferring them together 


288 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


to heavenly immortality. The Greeks and 
Romans sacrificed white lambs upon their 
altars, and held them in very high regard. It 
was a common thing to take oaths by their 
names, as indicative of the utmost truth and 
verity. Vulgarly, the habit still survives of 
swearing “ by Gemini.” 

Further accounts represent these two youths 
as kings, and as divine saviors and helpers of 
men, though mostly in the character of warrior- 
judges. They were supposed to preside over 
the public games, particularly .where horses 
were concerned. War-songs and dances were 
supposed to have originated with them, and 
they had much to do in favoring and inspiring 
the bards and poets. When Menestheus was 
endeavoring to usurp the government of Atti¬ 
ca, they interfered, and devastated the country 
around Athens until its gates opened to them 
and the Athenians submitted to them and ren¬ 
dered them sacred honors. They were dis¬ 
tinguished in the Calydonian Hunt, and fought 
and slew Amycus, the gigantic son of the god 
of the sea, who challenged the Argonauts 
and had shown himself the enemy of Herakles. 
They made invasive war to recover the por¬ 
tions of which they had been cunningly cheat¬ 
ed, and succeeded in it, and gained much more 


MYTHIC ACCOUNTS. 


289 


In addition. In this conflict the authors of the 
murderous assaults upon them were stricken 
down and slain by the lightnings of Jupiter. 
They were assigned great power over good 
fortune, and particularly over the winds and 
the waves of the sea. 

Such are the mythic representations as they 
come through the Greeks and Romans. In 
some other showings, however, these two 
figures are not of one sex. In the Zodiac 
of Dendera the figure is that of a man walk¬ 
ing hand in hand with a woman. The same 
are sometimes called Adam and Eve. But 
the male figure is not the literal first Adam, 
but the mystic second Adam, the same Seed 
of the woman who everywhere appears in 
these celestial frescoes. The figure in the 
Egyptian sphere has an appendage which sig¬ 
nifies the Coming One — the Messiah-Prince. 
And having identified the masculine figure, 
there can be no difficulty in identifying the 
accompanying female figure. The Lamb has 
a bride, a wife, bone of His bone and flesh 
of His flesh, and destined for an everlasting 
union with Him in glory and dominion. And 
this Eve, made out of His side in the deep 
sleep of death to which He submitted for the 
purpose, is none other than the Church, which 

25 t 


29O THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

here appears in celestial union with her sublime 
Lord. Even the word Gemini, in the original 
Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac, whence it has 
come, does not run so much on the idea of 
two brought forth at the same birth, as upon 
the idea of something completed , as of a year 
come to the full or as of a long betrothal 
brought to its consummation in perfected 
marriage. The old Coptic name of this sign, 
Pi Mahi , signifies the United , the Completely 
joined . 


The Star-Names. 

And when we closely examine the names 
still retained in this constellation, we find 
ample indication that these figures were 
meant to set forth Christ and His Church 
in that great marriage-union which is to be 
completed in the heavens during that very 
judgment-period to which these last four 
signs refer. In the left foot of the southern 
figure of Gemini shines a conspicuous star, 
named Al Henah, the Hurt, the Wounded. 
This figure, then, must refer to Him whose 
heel was to be bruised. So the principal star 
in his head is called Pollux, the Ruler, the 
Judge, and sometimes Herakles, or Hercules , 
the mighty sufferer and toiler, who frees the 


THE STAR-NAMES. 


29I 


world of all otherwise unmanageable powers 
of evil. In the centre of his body is another 
bright star, called Wasat , which means Set , 
Seated , or Put in place , as where it is said, “ I 
am set on the throne of Israel,” “ there are set 
thrones of judgment,” “ the judgment was set , 19 
“ I am set in my ward;” which specially de¬ 
scribes what is prophesied of Christ in con¬ 
nection with the completion of His marriage 
with His Church. 

And, in perfect accord with these indica¬ 
tions, this figure holds in his right hand the 
great club of power, as the One who bruises 
the Serpent’s head and breaks in pieces all 
antagonisms to His rule or to His people’s 
peace. The Egyptians called him Hor , or 
Horus , the Coming One , the son of light, the 
slayer of the serpent, the recoverer of the 
dominion. Horus is described in an extant 
Egyptian hymn as “ the son of the sun,” “ the 
mighty, the great avenger, the observer of 
justice,” “ the golden hawk coming for the 
chastisement of all lands, the divinely benef¬ 
icent, the Lord omnipotent;” which corre¬ 
sponds again with the descriptions of the 
Merodach of the ancient Babylonians, who is 
called the Rectifier, the great Restorer. It is 
the biblical description, almost literally, of the 


292 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

promised Redeemer of the world in connec¬ 
tion with the judgment. 

The variation as to the sex of the other 
figure, which is sometimes contemplated as 
a woman and sometimes as a masculine hero, 
corresponds also with the biblical representa¬ 
tions of the Church. God calls Israel His 
son , and also His spouse , the wife of which 
He is the Husband, the one chosen out from 
among- the maidens and wedded to himself. 
The bride of the Lamb in the Apocalypse is 
at the same time described as “ a man-child^ 
who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, 
and to that end was “caught up unto God and 
to His throne.” 

Christ’s Union with His Church. 

But the two figures in this sign, though in 
some sense distinct, are really one , as Christ 
and the Father are one, and as the man and 
his wife are one flesh. The union is such 
that one is in the other, and the two are so 
conjoined that one implies and embraces the 
other. There is no Christ apart from His 
Church, and there is no Church except in 
Christ. They are two, and yet they are one 
—He in them, and they in Him—so that what 
is His is theirs, and what is theirs is His. As 


CHRIST'S UNION WITH HIS CHURCH. 293 

He is the peculiar Son of God, they are pecu¬ 
liar sons of God in Him, and are joint-heirs 
with Him to all that He inherits. Again and 
again the Scriptures comprehend Him in the 
descriptions of the Church, and embrace them 
in the predictions concerning Him. Hence, 
in the truer and deeper meaning of the Psalms, 
He and His people speak the same words, 
pass through the same experiences, receive 
the same assurances, and rejoice in the same 
promises, hopes, and honors. The king often 
disappears in the body politic, and the body 
politic still oftener disappears in the king. 
And so it is in these two figures. They are 
no more twins than Christ and His Church 
are twins, yet they are both the peculiar sons 
of God; whilst the birth of the one was vir¬ 
tually and really the birth of the other. 

Hence, also, the names and qualities which 
appear in the one are at the same time con¬ 
sumable with both, because they coexist in 
one another. They are Bridegroom and 
bride, but they are at the same time together 
the one Man-Child appointed to rule all na¬ 
tions with a rod of iron. Accordingly, the 
one is called Pollux and Herakles —the Ruler, 
the Judge, the Toiling Deliverer; and the 
other is called Castor and Apollo —the Coming 

25 * 


294 THE gospel in the stars. 

Ruler or Judge, “born of the light,” who pun¬ 
ishes and destroys the wicked and unright¬ 
eous, who brings help and wards off evil, who 
has the spirit of prophecy and sacred song, 
who protects and keeps the flocks, and who 
delights in the founding and establishment of 
cities, kingdoms, and settled rule and order 
among men. It is not the one by himself in 
either case, but the one in and with the other, 
conjoined and perfected in the same admin¬ 
istration—Christ with the Church, and the 
Church with Christ, as the one all-ruling Man- 
Child under whom the whole earth shall be 
delivered from misrule and oppression, the 
eternal kingdom come, and the entire world 
enjoy its unending Sabbath. 

At present this union of Christ with His 
Church, though real and the very life of Chris¬ 
tianity, is mystic, hidden, and not yet fully re¬ 
vealed. The Church is yet intermixed and 
held down by earthiness and the power of 
mortality and death. All this needs to be 
stripped off and immortality put on, as has 
been accomplished in the case of Christ the 
Head, who is now already at the right hand 
of the Father. What has happened in His 
deliverance, triumph, and exaltation needs 
also to be wrought out in the case of His 


THE MARK /AGE OF THE LAMB . 295 

members, the Church. Our complete union 
with Him can only be when this mortal has 
put on immortality and death is swallowed up 
of life; which occurs when the sainted dead 
are raised, and they, together with those of 
His who are then still alive, are caught up in 
incorruption to meet Him in the heavenly 
spaces. But what is as yet mystic and unre¬ 
vealed is hereafter to be openly, formally, and 
most gloriously exhibited and shown in living 
and eternal fact. 

The Marriage of the Lamb. 

Hence, in the Apocalyptic pictures of the 
ongoing judgment-period, after the Man-Child 
has been born into immortality, and is caught 
up to God, and has overcome the opposing 
Dragon and his angels by the blood of the 
Lamb and the word of their testimony, and 
immediately before Christ and His people 
come forth riding on white horses for the 
overthrow of the Beast and his armies, we 
hear the voice of gladness and rejoicing, and 
the giving of glory to the All-Ruler, in that 
“ the Marriage of the Lamb is come,” and the 
word of blessing goes forth upon all who are 
“ called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb ” 
(Rev. 19: 7-9). 


296 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Just what this marriage of the Lamb is, or 
what celestial formalities and demonstrations 
it embraces, no man is able definitely to tell. 
We know, in general terms, that the Bride¬ 
groom is Christ, after He has taken to Him 
His great power and is about to proceed to 
the utter destruction of His enemies, and that 
the bride is the Church, the completed assem¬ 
bly of the elect, after they have all been gath¬ 
ered to their Lord in triumphant immortality. 
We know also that it involves some formal 
and manifest ceremonial, by which He takes, 
acknowledges, and fully endows His glorified 
Church as thenceforward and for ever con¬ 
joined with himself in closest and inseparable 
unity, to move as He moves, to reign as He 
reigns, to judge and make war as He judges 
and makes war, and to be one with Him in all 
the possessions, administrations, joys, honors, 
and achievements which pertain to Him then 
and world without end. It is the formal and 
eternal perfecting of them in Him, and of 
Him in them, in a union as ineffable as it is 
unending. 

And this is the precise thing alluded to in 
the text and pictorially given in the sign of 
Gemini. The very name, the attitudes of the 
figures, and the order of place occupied by 


THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB. 297 

this sign, as well as the star-names in it and 
all the mythic stories connected with it, com¬ 
bine to fix this as its truest and fullest mean¬ 
ing, as intended by the mind that framed it 
and gave out the original instructions con¬ 
cerning it. It is God’s sign in the heavens 
of the coming marriage and union of the Seed 
of the woman with His redeemed Church, pre¬ 
cisely as the same is set forth in all His word 
as the hope and joy of His people, to be ful¬ 
filled at His revelation and coming. 

Thus, then, we find the true Castor and 
Pollux, the peculiar sons of God, whose bra¬ 
very secures the prize of the Golden Fleece, 
who share in the same trials, sufferings, labors, 
triumphs, and glories, and with whom is the 
holy wisdom, the prophetic inspiration, the 
leadership of armies that fight for human 
rights and liberty, the patronage of holy hero¬ 
ism and sacred song, the upholding of truth 
and righteousness, the only salvation for op¬ 
pressed and afflicted man. These are the 
true kings, ordained to rule all nations with 
a rod of iron, to chastise and destroy the re¬ 
bellious and incorrigible, to hunt out and pun¬ 
ish wickedness unto the ends of the earth, 
and to be revealed in flaming fire as warrior- 
judges on white horses, to put down usurpers, 


298 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

fight the gigantic son of the god of this world, 
hurl the dread Antichrist and his hordes to 
sudden perdition, revenge the blood of mar¬ 
tyrs on those who shed it, apportion law and 
destiny to the earthly peoples, and sit and 
reign in immortal regency over all the after 
generations. (See my Lectures on the Apoc¬ 
alypse , vol. iii.) 

And what we thus find in the sign is further 
signified in the accompanying Decans. 

Lepus. 

The first of these, as given in our plani¬ 
spheres, is Lepus , the figure of a gigantic 
hare. In the Arabic it is called Arnebeth , 
which means the Hai'e , but also has the sig¬ 
nification of Enemy of the Coming . In the Per¬ 
sian and Egyptian Zodiacs the figure is a 
serpent, trodden under Orion’s foot, with this 
further addition in the Egyptian, that the ser¬ 
pent is also caught in the claws of a seeming 
hawk. It is also called Bashti-Beki , the Offend¬ 
er confounded. The mythic account of this hare 
is, that it is one of the animals which Orion 
most delighted in hunting, and hence was 
placed near him in the stars. In the picture 
Orion is in the act of crushing this hare with 
his great foot. And the names of the stars 


SIRIUS. 


299 


which it includes— Nibal, Raids, and Sugia — 
mean the Mad , the Caught , the Deceiver. 

From these indications it is sufficiently man¬ 
ifest that this constellation was meant to show 
and record the nearing end of the Enemy, and 
the close proximity of his utter overthrow when 
once the heavenly marriage is celebrated. 

And this is precisely the showing made in 
the Scriptures, particularly in the Apocalypse. 
The lifting of the Church into its destined 
union with Christ in glory is a stunning blow 
to the whole empire of darkness, and the sure 
herald of its utter dissolution then speedily to 
follow. No sooner is it announced that “the 
marriage of the Lamb is come ” than the 
heaven opens, and He who is called Faithful 
and True rides forth upon the white horse, 
in righteousness to judge and make war, and 
all the armies of heaven follow Him on white 
horses, and the Beast and the False Prophet 
are taken, and the kings of the earth and their 
armies are slain with the sword of this invin¬ 
cible host (Rev. 19 : 6-21). 

Sirius. 

The second Decan confirms and sustains 
the same presentation. This is the great 
Dog , anciently the Wolf, the special hunter 


300 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

and devourer of the hare. In the Dendera 
Zodiac the figure is the Eagle or Hawk , the 
particular enemy of the Serpent, having on 
his head a double mark of crownings with 
power and majesty, and standing on the top 
of a great mace as the triumphant royal 
Breaker and Bruiser of the powers of evil. 
The principal star in this constellation is the 
most brilliant and fiery in all the heavens. 

“ All others he excels; no fairer light 
Ascends the skies, none sets so clear and bright.” 

But it is associated with burning heat, pesti¬ 
lence, and disaster to the earth and the chil¬ 
dren of men. Homer sung of it as a star 

“ Whose burning breath 

Taints the red air with fevers, plagues, and death.” 

Virgil speaks of blighted fields, a smitten 
earth, and suffering beasts, because this star 

“ With pestilential heat infects the sky.” 

This star is called Sirius , from Sir or Seir, 
which means Prince , Guardian , the Victorious . 
Taken in connection with the name of the 
figure in the Egyptian sphere, as often given, 
we have Naz-Seir or Nazir; and we know 
who it was that was to be called Naz-seir-ene. 
Naz-Seir means the Sent Prince. So the Rod 


SIRIUS. 


301 


promised to come forth from the stem or 
stump of Jesse is called Netzer in the He¬ 
brew Bible, there translated the Branch, the 
princely Scion, who should “smite the'earth 
with the rod of His mouth, and Hay the 
wicked with the breath of His lips.” Not, 
then, only because Christ spent His earlier 
years at an obscure little village by the name 
of Nazareth , but, above all, because He was 
the Sent Prince, the Messiah , the Branch , at 
once the Netzer of Isaiah and the Naz-Seir 
of these equally prophetic constellations. 
From the earliest ages of Christianity till 
now interpreters and defenders of the Scrip¬ 
tures have been at a loss to explain by what 
prophet or in what sacred prophecy it was 
said, as claimed by the Apostle, that Christ 
should be called a Nazarene; but here, from 
a most unexpected quarter, we find the near¬ 
est and most literal foreshowing of that very 
name, given in place as a designation of the 
Seed of the woman, and describing Him as 
the Sent Prince , the lordly Eagle, the appoint¬ 
ed tearer in pieces and extirpator of the 
whole serpent brood. And in this Naz-Seir , 
or Naz-Sirius , we are to see Him of whom 
Matthew said, “ He came and dwelt in a city 
called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled 
26 


302 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

which was spoken by the prophets, He shall 
be called Naz-Seir-ene” (Matt. 2 ; 23). 

In accord with this, the second star of this 
constellation is called Mirzcitn, the Ruler; the 
third, Muliphen, the Leader , the Chieftain; 
the fourth, Wesen, Shining, Illustrious, Scarlet; 
the fifth, Adhara, the Glorious; and another, 
Al Habor, the Mighty. It would verily seem 
as if we were selecting a list of scriptural ex¬ 
pressions concerning our Redeemer when we 
thus give the sense of these astronomic names. 
Their meaning is most truly significant when 
understood of Christ, but they are worse 
than absurd if we are to understand them 
of an Egyptian dog. Nor will these show¬ 
ings interpret at all except as applied to the 
scene, subject, and period of which Gemini , 
as I have explained, is the central sign. 

The Sublime Prince. 

A magnificent picture of the Sun is that 
which the Psalmist gives, where he repre¬ 
sents him as a bridegroom, glowing under 
his wedding-canopy, exulting like a mighty 
man to run his race, and going forth from 
one horizon to the other with a power of 
heat and brightness from which nothing can 
hide. But what is thus said of the natural 


THE SUBLIME PRINCE. 303 

Sun is still more thrillingly true of the Sun 
of Righteousness in the case before us. He 
is the Bridegroom, for “ the marriage of the 
Lamb is come.” He stands under the wed¬ 
ding-canopy, the Illustrious, the Glorious, 
ready for revelation in the brightness of His 
appearing, and exulting to go forth in all His 
invincible energy to search and try the earth 
from end to end, revealing everything, test¬ 
ing everything, and bringing burning, death, 
and destruction to whatever is found lifting 
itself against Him as “the King of kings and 
Lord of lords.” 

In this attitude and in these relations He is 
the Hunter and Destroyer of the Hare, the 
true Naz-Seir-ene , the Appointed Prince , the 
lordly Eagle, the Destroyer of the Serpent. 
Here especially He is the mighty, the glori¬ 
ous, the Prince of the right hand, as the Ar¬ 
abic has it, the Chief leading His hosts to 
effective victory. Here heat and burning 
and plague and death attend upon His going 
forth, and men are smitten and scorched; as 
it is written: “ Their flesh shall consume 
away while they stand upon their feet, and 
their eyes shall consume away in their sock¬ 
ets, and their tongue shall consume away in 
their mouth” (Zech. 14:12); “for the day 


304 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one 
that is proud and lofty, and upon every one 
that is lifted up, and the loftiness of man 
shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness 
of men shall be made low, and the Lord 
alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isa. 2: 
12-17); “And out of His mouth goeth a 
sharp sword, that with it He should smite the 
nations; and He shall rule them with a rod 
of iron ; and He treadeth the winepress of 
the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God” 
(Rev. 19 : 15). 

It is the same picture of the same identical 
scene described by Isaiah (63), where it is 
asked, “ Who is this that cometh from Edom, 
with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that 
is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the 
greatness of his strength ?” To which He 
answers: “ I that speak in righteousness, 
mighty to save.” And where the further 
inquiry is put: “Wherefore art thou red in 
thine apparel, and thy garments like him that 
treadeth the winefat?” And the further an¬ 
swer is: “I have trodden the winepress alone ; 
and of the people there was none with me: 
for I will tread them in mine anger, and 
trample them in my fury; and their blood 
shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I 


THE COMPANION OF SIRIUS. 305 

will stain all my raiment. For the day of 
vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of 
my redeemed is come. . . . And I will tread 
down the people in mine anger, and make 
them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down 
their strength to the earth.” Here is the 
true Pollux , the real Sirius , the mighty Chief¬ 
tain, the Wolf or Eagle coming upon the 
enemy, the glorious Hero of salvation, ar¬ 
rayed in brightness and scarlet, and triumph¬ 
ing in the greatness of His strength. 

All the features in the sign thus harmoni¬ 
ously weave into one consistent and magnifi¬ 
cent showing, which is the same in the stars 
as in the written prophecies. 

The Companion of Sirius. 

But when the glorious Sun of Righteous¬ 
ness thus comes forth in His majesty from 
under the wedding-canopy, “ clothed with a 
vesture dipped in blood,” riding upon the 
white horse, and sending out His mighty 
sword to smite the nations and hurl the 
Beasts and their followers to perdition, He 
comes not alone. The armies of the heaven 
follow Him on white horses, wearing the clean 
linen of saintly righteousness. He is the 
Head, the Leader, the Chief, but behind Him 

26 * U 


/ 


306 the gospel in the stars. 

are His elect myriads, warrior-judges like 
himself. He is married now, and His bride 
is with her Husband. “To execute ven¬ 
geance upon the nations and punishments 
upon the people; to bind their kings with 
chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 
to execute upon them the judgment written : 
this honor have all the saints” (Ps. 149 : 7-9). 

And to bring out this feature there is added 
a third Decan of Gemini—the second Dog 
or Wolf. It differs from the first only in be¬ 
ing smaller and feebler, and following a little 
behind the first; for the saints by this time 
are all like unto their Lord, and follow Him 
whithersoever He goeth. Princeliness is in 
them also, though the Arabic astronomy des¬ 
ignates them as the Prince of the left hand, 
as it calls Him the Prince of the right hand. 
In the Egyptian Zodiac this constellation has 
a human figure with the Eagle’s head ; hence 
a sign of humanity exalted to power and au¬ 
thority against the Serpent-seed. It is called 
Sebak —that is, Conquering , Victorious . 

The name of the principal star, a very 
bright star of the first magnitude—and from 
that star the name of the constellation itself 
on our planispheres—is Procyon , which, in its 
Noetic elements, is associated in meaning 


THE MYTHS. 


30 7 


with redemption, and may mean Redeemed or 
Redeeming , or both, and well describes the 
body of the glorified saints. The term AL 
Mir2am occurs here also, as in the second 
Decan, and ascribes rulership to what is here 
symbolized, the same as to the Head Prince 
going before; just as Christ has promised to 
His faithful people that they shall share His 
throne and sovereignty and “ reign with Him 
for ever and ever.” The second star in this 
constellation bears the name of Al Gomeiza, 
which in signification also refers to redemp¬ 
tion, and seems to include particularly the 
previous history of the saints, as, like their 
Lord, once burdened , loaded dozvn , enduring 
for the sake of others. 

The Myths. 

The myths touching this Dog are varied. 
Some say he represents the Egyptian god 
Anubis, which was the god that took charge 
of the dying and carried them to judgment. 
Others say it refers to Diana and her hunt¬ 
ing and destroying of wild beasts. Some 
say he is the dog of Icarus, who revealed 
the place where the murderers of his master 
had hid the body of their victim, and thus 
was the occasion of various, sad and disturb- 


308 the gospel in the stars. 

ing calamities. And still other accounts rep¬ 
resent this Dog as one of the hounds of 
Actaeon, which in madness devoured their 
master after Diana had turned him into a 
stag. Actaeon was a trained and cunning 
hunter who was impertinent toward Artemis, 
the goddess of purity and justice, and had 
command over sufferings, plagues, and death. 
He boasted himself against her, and even 
appropriated to himself and associates what 
was sacred to her. Hence these judgments 
came upon him and made an end of him. 

These stories agree in nothing except in 
the recognition of some good agency or 
heavenly power at work to bring the erring 
to account, and to give trouble and death to 
the proud, the offending, and the intractable. 
But in this they all accord with the character 
and office which the Scriptures ascribe to the 
glorified Church in connection with what fol¬ 
lows immediately on the marriage of the 
Lamb. They help to strengthen the chain 
of evidence identifying Procyon as the starry 
symbol of those heavenly armies which come 
forth along with the King of kings and Lord 
of lords to the battle of the great day of God 
Almighty, to make an end of misrule and 
usurpation on earth, and clear it of all the 


SUMMARY ON GEMINI. 309 

wild beasts which have been devastating it 
for these many ages. 

Summary on Gemini. 

Thus, then, the records in the stars com¬ 
bine with the records in the Book to picture 
to us a most sublime destiny for the congre¬ 
gation of believers. They are betrothed to 
Christ even now, and love Him, and oft have 
sweet and blessed communion with Him; but 
it is only through veils and intervening ordi¬ 
nances, by faith and not by sight. The time 
is coming when these veils shall be removed, 
and God’s people shall meet Him face to 
face, and see the King in His beauty, and be 
joined with Him in all the intimacies of love, 
fellowship, and oneness, being made copart¬ 
ners with Him in all He has and is and does, 
yea, the loved and loving participants in all 
His glory, throne, and immortal administra¬ 
tions. They shall not only “ stand in the 
judgment,” but they shall be lifted when it 
comes, “ caught up to meet the Lord in the 
air,” to be with Him as no other beings are 
with Him, even as His bride and wife. And 
when His power goes forth to plague the 
wicked world, avenge the blood of the mar¬ 
tyrs, overwhelm the great Beast and his 


310 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

armies, rid the world of all the wild beasts 
of usurpation and unrighteousness which 
have infested it so long, and reduce the re¬ 
fractory nations and peoples to just and right¬ 
ful authority by the force of an iron sceptre 
to which all must bow or be dashed to pieces, 
they shall be one with Him in the terrific 
manifestations and be co-administrants of 
that irresistible almightiness. They in Him, 
and He in them, shall be the Castor and 
Pollux of the world to come, supremely bless¬ 
ed in each other, and making blessed, putting 
glad songs where tears and groans have 
moaned their miserere, and settling every¬ 
thing into the order, peace, and permanence 
of that divine kingdom when all shall be “ on 
earth as it is in heaven.” 

O glorious outcome for these toils and fears 
and trials and misgivings in faith’s weary pil¬ 
grimage ! Death gone ! Mortality swallowed 
up of life! Union with the King complete ! 
Vicissitude, peradventure, doubt, and disabil¬ 
ity clean swept away for ever! The throne, 
the dominion, and the glory secure! What 
a blessedness is this ! Who shall sing it as 
it merits ? 

“ Blest seats! through rude and stormy scenes 
I onward press to you.” 


liecture Cijirtceittlj. 

THE BLESSED POSSESSION. 

Gen. 22 : 17 : “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, 
and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall pos¬ 
sess the gate of his enemies.” 

T HIS is part of the oath which God swore 
unto Abraham after the test of his faith 
in the offering of his son Isaac. It applied 
in part to the believing patriarch’s natural 
seed, but more especially to Christ and the 
multitudinous seed of faith, who are also 
“ the seed of Abraham.” This is made clear 
in the writings of St. Paul, who tells us that 
“ to Abraham and his seed were the promises 
made; not to seeds, as of many, but as of 
one—thy Seed —which is Christ” (Gal. 3:16); 
“and if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s 
seed, and heirs according to the promise” 
(Gal. 3 : 29). 

We do not therefore strain or misapply the 
text when we understand it of Christ and the 
Church, and say that to these the divine prom¬ 
ise is to multiply them as the stars of the 

311 


312 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

sky and the sands on the sea-shore, and to 
give them victory and success to take the 
gate of their enemies, and possess the same 
for ever. And the ultimate fulfilment of this 
promise is what we find symbolized in the 
stars by the sign of Cancer and the constel¬ 
lations which form its Decans. 

The Sign of Cancer. 

In our planispheres we have here the pic¬ 
ture of a gigantic Crab. It is the same in the 
Parsi, Hindoo, and Chinese Zodiacs, and hence 
is supposed to have been the same in the 
Chaldean and original representations ; but 
in the Egyptian sphere the figure is the Sca- 
rabceus, or sacred beetle, which some take as 
having been the original figure. It is diffi¬ 
cult to decide which is the most ancient, but 
either serves well to express the meaning 
which clearly attaches to this sign. 

The Crab. 

The crab is an animal born of the water, 
as the Church is “born of water and of the 
Spirit.” Its rows of legs, on opposite sides, 
give the idea of multitudinous development 
and numerous members, as the promise here 
is with regard to the Church, and as is signb 


THE CRAB. 


313 


fied in the sign of the Fishes, which is a spe¬ 
cial symbol of the Church. 

In the progress of the crab’s development 
and growth it undergoes important changes. 
The most marked of these is the periodic 
throwing off of its old shells and the taking on 
of new ones. In its earlier life these changes 
involve alterations in the whole form and 
shape of the animal. And so the Church, in 
the process of its earthly development and 
growth, passes from dispensation to dispensa¬ 
tion, and each individual saint first puts off the 
old man with his deeds, and puts on the new 
man which is renewed after the image of 
Him that created him, and then lays off “ the 
body of this death” in order to be “clothed 
upon with our house which is from heaven, 
that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” 
And these several changes, both general and 
personal, are all entirely completed by the 
time the Church comes to occupy the place 
indicated by this sign. 

The crab is also armed with two powerful 
hands or claws, by which it grasps hold with 
wonderful force and securely retains what¬ 
ever it takes. And so it is with the people 
of God. Having, like Mary, “chosen the 
good part,” or, like the patriarchs, “ embraced 

27 


3 H the gospel in the stars. 

the promises,” or, like the apostles, “ lain hold 
of the hope set before us,” they come into 
the possession of the incorruptible and heav¬ 
enly inheritance, and retain it with a grasp so 
firm and strong that it “ shall not be taken 
away.” 


The Scarab^eus. 

And so again with the scarabczus. This is 
a creature whose career exhibits very marked 
and significant transformations. The first 
period of its existence is passed in a dark, 
drear, subterranean abode, where its senses 
are feeble, its powers circumscribed, unglad¬ 
dened by pleasant sights, oft terrified by un¬ 
intelligible voices from the sunlit world above, 
compelled to eat and live amid filth, and with 
no worthier employment than to grow and 
wait for future changes. And so it is with 
the earthly Church and the children of God in 
this present life. With all that may be said 
of us here, we are the slaves of toil and suf¬ 
fering, full of darkness, doubt, and uncertain¬ 
ty, loaded with grovelling cares, the sport of 
ever-recurring accidents which we cannot ex¬ 
plain, pushed and cramped and crowded by 
others no better off than ourselves—mere 
knots of incapacities and troubles like earth- 


THE SCARABS US. 


315 


born and dirt-fed grubs, though bearing in us 
the germs and beginnings of eventual glory 
and blessedness. 

Having dragged out the time apportioned 
to its first condition, the scarabseus is next 
transformed into quite another. Nature’s 
hand now swaths it into a chrysalis. Ac¬ 
tivity ceases. Food can no longer be taken. 
The avenues of the senses are closed. The 
functions of life are put in abeyance, though 
soon to open out into still another form of 
existence. And so our earthly life terminates 
in death and passes into the mummy con¬ 
dition—that peculiar middle stage in which 
our inner being still lives on, but in quies¬ 
cence and rest, which the Scriptures call 
“ sleep,” which no cares or wants invade, and 
in which the embalmed body awaits the call 
of resurrection to reappear with new and 
augmented powers. 

And when this period of peaceful inaction 
is completed the swathed creature suddenly 
breaks from its chrysalis, and bursts forth 
into an exaltation of being which has for ever 
left behind it every vestige of the low con¬ 
ditions in which its earlier life was spent. 
What painfully and gloomily crawled in the 
filthy earth and darkness now spurns the 


31 6 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

dust, takes wings like a bird, soars at large 
in the bright sunshine whithersoever it will, 
and becomes a dweller in air, with the liber¬ 
ties of a free heaven. Filled now with lov¬ 
ing affections and marvellous sagacity, it 
builds a house for its treasure, and holds it 
fast as it rolls it out with unwearied devotion 
into the vast unknown. And thus from the 
mummy form of the sleeping saints there is 
to come a sudden bursting forth, when bodies 
terrestrial shall be supplanted by bodies celes¬ 
tial, and what was earthy becomes heavenly, 
and what was corruptible puts on incorrup¬ 
tion, and what was ignoble becomes glorious, 
and what was natural takes all the attributes 
and capacities of enfranchised spiritual being, 
to mount up with wings as eagles, and to en¬ 
joy the light and love and liberty of heaven, 
in no way inferior to the angels. And thus, 
with the goal of our being reached and the 
treasure of our hearts in hand, the promise 
is that we shall hold it secure world without 
end. 

There was scarce a creature on earth which 
the old Egyptians made so much of as this 
scarabaeus beetle. The stones of their finger- 
rings and shoe-latchets, the seals of their 
priests and nobles, the ornaments and amu- 


PR^ESEPE. 


317 


lets worn on their bodies, the tokens of their 
guilds and orders, the memorials of their 
marriages, and the last mark put upon the 
mummies of their dead, were shaped into the 
form of the scarabaeus. Men have wondered 
why this was, and faulted the taste of people 
so attached to a filthy bug . It was not on ac¬ 
count of its beauty surely, nor on account of 
any great service rendered by it to their 
country or their crops. But it was the figure 
in their Zodiac—the star-sign of perfected 
being, the progress of which from darkness 
to light, from death to resurrection, from 
earthly disability to heavenly glory, from the 
vicissitudes of time to the secure possession 
of the treasures of eternity, they could see 
and trace in this beetle at almost every step 
throughout all their land, and with which the 
primitive traditions had taught them to con¬ 
nect the most precious hopes of man. This 
explains the mystery and tells the story, and 
helps us greatly in identifying the meaning 
which the primeval patriarchs understood 
and intended to express in this eleventh sign 
of the Zodiacal series. 


Pr^esepe. 

In the centre of this constellation there is 


31 8 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

one of the brightest nebulous clusters in the 
starry sky, and sufficiently luminous to be 
be seen betimes with the naked eye. It looks 
like the nucleus of a great comet, and has 
often been taken for one. It is made up of 
a multitude of little stars, and is often desig¬ 
nated in modern astronomy as the Bee-hive . 
The ancients called it Prcesepe , which, in its 
Arabic and Hebrew elements, means the 
Multitude , Offspring, the Young , the Innumer¬ 
able Seed —the very idea in the text. The 
Latins understood by it the manger from 
which the asses were fed, the stall, the sta¬ 
ble, the fold, and hence a house of enter¬ 
tainment, the place into which travellers gath¬ 
ered for refreshment and rest. The same 
idea is expressed by Moses in connection 
with Issachar, to whom the Jews referred 
this sign, where he speaks of Issachar as 
being gathered into tents, called to the 
mountain, offering the sacrifices of right- 
eousness, and sucking the abundance of the 
sea and all the hid treasures of its sands 
(Deut. 33: 18, 19). In Jacob’s blessing of 
his sons we have corresponding allusions and 
still further identifications with the particulars 
in this sign. In many of the classic refer¬ 
ences to the Zodiac the figures here are two 


PRALSEPE. 


3*9 


asses, particularly represented by the two 
stars, the one north and the other south of 
Praesepe. And so Jacob prophesies of the 
coming Shiloh , that to Him shall the gather¬ 
ing of the people be, and that, having washed 
His garments in the blood of grapes, as when 
He treads the winepress of the fierceness of 
the wrath of Almighty God, and having ac¬ 
complished the destruction of His enemies, 
as when He rides forth on the white horse to 
destroy all hostile powers, “ He shall bind His 
foal to the vine, and His ass’s colt to the 
choice vine.” Issachar himself is likened to 
the great and strong ass which reclines be¬ 
tween the two folds or resting-places, seeing 
that “the rest is good and the land pleasant,” 
even that for which he was willing to bow his 
shoulder to the burden, and to serve and pay 
tribute to possess (Gen. 49: 10-15). 

The Scriptures thus not only give us the 
imagery found in this sign, but connect the 
sign itself—which was assigned to Issachar— 
with the final results of the achievements of 
the promised Seed of the woman—with the 
rest that remains for the people of God— 
with the ultimate home-gathering of the mul¬ 
titudinous seed of faith—with the peaceful 
and secure entrance of the Church upon the 


320 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

“inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, and 
that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for 
those who are kept by the power of God 
through faith unto salvation ready to be re¬ 
vealed in the last time” (i Pet. i : 4-6). 

The Myths. 

The myths concerning this sign are faint 
and feeble, but what is given amply conforms 
to what the Scriptures record in connection 
with it. The two asses which the Greeks ac¬ 
cepted as the figures of Cancer they ex¬ 
plained to be the animals by which Jupiter 
was assisted in his victory over the giants, 
but in repose now by the side of the celestial 
crib. They would thus admirably identify 
with the white horses on which Christ and 
His heavenly armies rode when they came 
forth for the destruction of the beasts, kings, 
and armies that made war with the Lamb. 
They would seem, indeed, to stand for the 
same, but now resting in immortal glory after 
the victory. 

Other myths associate this Crab with the 
famous contest of Hercules with the dreadful 
Lernaean monster, and affirm that this was 
the animal from the sea which Juno’s envy 
of the hero caused to bite his foot, but which, 


THE NAMES. 


321 


being quickly despatched, was rewarded by 
being placed among the heavenly constella¬ 
tions. Hercules was the symbol of the Seed 
of the woman as the suffering and toiling 
Deliverer, the great Overcomer and Slayer 
of the powers of evil, who, for the sake of 
His people, endured the sting and bruising 
of His heel; and yet, for all the pains they 
caused Him, He brings them at last to the 
enjoyment of eternal rest and glory, having 
slain their enmity by His cross. 

The Names. 

The Egyptians called this sign Klaria, the 
Folds , the Resting-places. We call it Cancer , 
which in later vocabularies means the Crab , 
but which, in its Noetic roots, explains what 
we are to see in this Crab. Khan means the 
traveller’s resting-place, and her or cer means 
embraced , encircled , held as within encircling 
arms. And so Ca7i-cer means Rest secured — 
the object of desire at length reached, com¬ 
passed, possessed, and inalienably held. Hence 
also the chief star in this sign is named Acu- 
bens, the sheltering, the place of retirement, 
the good rest. Hence also other names in 
this sign ( McCalaph and Al Himareiri) mean 
assembled thousands , the kids or lambs ; whilst 
v 


322 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

the whole is called in Hebrew, Arabic, and 
Syriac by a name which signifies holding, 
possessing , retaining. It is the sign of the 
saints’ everlasting rest, in which the head of 
the Serpent is beneath their feet, as under 
the feet of this Crab. 

And what we thus find in the sign itself is 
further illustrated and fully corroborated in 
its accompanying Decans. 

Ursa Minor. 

The first of these is what is now called 
Ursa Minor, the Lesser Bear. But this was 
not its original name; nor is it a bear at all. 
Those who figure it as a bear are obliged to 
give it a long uplifted tail, such as no bear 
ever had. And what is very astonishing, on 
the supposition that we here have to do with 
the form of a bear, is, that the most remark¬ 
able star in this constellation, and the most 
observed and rested on by man in all the 
heavens, is located far out on this unnatural 
tail. Where is the sense that would lead any 
astronomer, ancient or modern, to locate the 
Pole Star of the heavens in an imaginary tail 
of a feeble little bear? The very idea is ab¬ 
surd, and such an absurdity that we may be 
sure the great old primeval astronomers are 


URSA MINOR. 


323 


in no wise chargeable with it. It is said that 
the North American Indians connected the 
North Star with a bear, and that hence the 
figure here must have been primitively known 
as “ the Bearbut it is not proven that these 
Indians belong to the primitive peoples, whilst 
they at the same time criticise and ridicule 
those who name it a bear, as not knowing 
what a bear is, or they never would have 
given it a long and lifted tail. 

The way in which Ursa Minor and Ursa 
Major may have come to be called Bears is 
perhaps from the fact that the ancient name 
of the principal star in the latter is Dubheh 
or Dubah , and as Dob is the word for bear, 
the Greeks and others took the name of that 
star as meaning the Bear , and so called these 
two corresponding constellations the Bears. 

But Dubheh or Dubah does not mean bear, 
but a collection of domestic animals, a fold, 
as the Hebrew word Dober. The evidence is 
that, according to the original intent, we are 
to see in these constellations not two long¬ 
tailed bears, but two sheepfolds or flocks, the 
collected and folded sheep of God’s pasture. 

The ancient Danes and Icelanders called 
Ursa Minor the Chair or Chariot of Thor, 
and the old Britons ascribed the same to 


324 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Arthur, their great divine hero. This is 
coming much nearer to the astronomical facts 
of the case, as also to the original ideas con¬ 
nected with this constellation. It has seven 
principal stars, often called Septentriones —the 
seven which turn. The Arabs and the rab¬ 
bins called them Ogilah , going round\ as 
wheels; and hence also they are called Charles's 
Warn , the King's Wagon , or the thing which 
goes round. These noted seven stars are in 
themselves sufficient to suggest some con¬ 
nection with “the seven churches” which 
John saw as “seven stars” in Christ’s right 
hand. The whole number of stars in this 
constellation is twenty-four, which suggests 
connection again between it and the “ four- 
and-twenty elders” whom John beheld “round 
about the throne, clothed in white raiment, 
and having on their heads crowns of gold” 
(Rev. 4), which denote the seniors of the 
elect Church in heaven. The ancient names 
in this constellation are Kochab , the Star , al¬ 
lied perhaps with the promise in Rev. 2 : 28, 
otherwise rendered by Rolleston waiting the 
coming ; Al Pherkadain , the Calves , the Young , 
Hebraically, the Redeemed; Al Gedi, the Kid\ 
the Chosen of the flock ; and Al Kaid, the As¬ 
sembled, the gathered together. These are 


THE POLE-STAR. 


325 


all applicable to the Church of the first-born, 
and particularly describe it as it finally comes 
to its inheritance. 

Aratus says that Jupiter transferred both 
these bears to the sky from Crete during his 
concealment in the Idaean cave; but bears 
were never known in Crete, though it was 
plentiful enough in flocks and herds. But 
the story agrees with the scriptural account 
in this, that Christ mysteriously transfers the 
Church of the first-born to heaven whilst yet 
unmanifested to the rest of the world. 

The Greeks called Ursa Minor , if not both 
the Bears, Areas , or Arktos , a name which 
Harcourt derives from Arx , the stronghold of 
the saved. The myth concerning Areas is, that 
he was the son of Jupiter and the nymph Cal- 
listo, that he built a city on the site of the 
blasted house of him who was served up as 
a dish to try Jupiter’s divinity, and that he 
was the progenitor, teacher, and ruler of the 
Arcadians; which readily interprets in good 
measure of what is written of the Church of 
the first-born, particularly in its offices in the 
mysterious future. 

The Pole-Star. 

It is part of the promise of the text that 
28 


326 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

the seed of faith is to “ possess the gate of 
his enemies”—that is, to take the house or 
possession of the foe — and thenceforward 
to hold what the enemy previously held. 
Now, at the time these constellations were 
formed, and for a long time afterward, the 
Pole-Star was the Dragon Star, Alpha Dra- 
conis. Thus this central gate, or hinge, or 
governing-point of the earth’s motion, was 
then in the enemy’s possession. But that 
Dragon Star is now far away from the Pole, 
and cannot again get back to it for ages on 
ages, whilst the Lesser and higher Sheepfold 
has come into its place; so that the main star 
of Areas is now the Pole-Star. The seed of 
faith thus gets the enemy’s gate. And un¬ 
derstanding Ursa Minor of the Church of 
the first-born in heaven, instated in the gov¬ 
ernment of the earth, we have in it a striking 
picture of the old prophecy fulfilled, when 
once Satan is cast down and the saints reign 
with their Lord in glory everlasting. 

It is also an interesting fact that no traces 
of these Greek Bears are to be found in the 
Egyptian, the Persian, or the Indian plani¬ 
spheres, but only what is thoroughly agree¬ 
able to the idea that we are here to see the 
assembly of God’s flocks in their heavenly 


URSA MAJOR. 


327 


glory, authority, and dominion, as over against 
the Serpent and the whole serpent dominion. 

Ursa Major. 

And this is made the more evident in the 
second Decan of Cancer— Ursa Major, the 
Great Bear , anciently, the Great Sheepfold , 
the resting-place of the flock. The Arabs 
still call this constellation Al Naish or An- 
naish, the ordered or assembled together, as 
sheep in a fold. 

In the centre of the miscalled tail of this 
so-called Bear we find the name Mizar, which 
means guarded or enclosed place. The chief 
star of all is Dubheh, herd or fold; the sec¬ 
ond is Merach, the flock ; another, Cab'd al 
Asad, multitude of the assembled. Here we 
also have the names El Acola, the sheepfold; 
Al Kaiad , the assembled; Alioth, the ewe or 
mother; El Kaphrah, the protected, the cov¬ 
ered , the Redeemed; Dubheh Lac liar, the latter 
herd or flock, as distinguished from a former 
in Ursa Minor. The book of Job refers to 
“Arcturus and his sons”—to Ash, or Aish, 
and “her” progeny. The old Jewish com¬ 
mentators say that Aish here means the 
seven stars of the Great Bear. The word is 
often collective, denoting a community , hence 


328 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

the flock, the congregation. And in the so-call¬ 
ed tail of this Bear we find the name Benet 
Naish, the daughters of Aish, part of the flock 
going out after Bootes, the Shepherd. 

The myths say that this Bear is the nymph 
Callisto , the mother of Areas, the son of Jupi¬ 
ter, and that she was metamorphosed into a 
bear by Juno. In the word Callisto we find 
the Shemitic root which we again meet as 
Caulcz , a sheepfold , an enclosure. And with 
this idea in mind a glance at these “seven 
stars” shows how well the presentations an¬ 
swer to an enclosure, from which the great 
flock goes forth from the fold at the corner 
led by their great Shepherd and Guardian, 
to whose coming all the ages have been look¬ 
ing from the beginning. 

In the Dendera Zodiac this constellation 
has a great female figure with the head of a 
swine, the enemy of the Serpent, the tearer 
of the earth, and holding in her hand a great 
ploughshare, emblematic of tearing up, bruis¬ 
ing, turning under; and the name by which it 
is called is Fent-Har , the Serpent-bruiser , the 
Serpent-horrifier. This ploughshare appears 
in both these constellations, and may have 
given rise to the association of the plough 
with these stars; but the whole significance 


ARGO. 


329 


is that of the seed of faith in power and tri¬ 
umph over the Serpent and its progeny. 

All this sufficiently shows that we here have 
to do with the happy sheepfold, the flock of 
God, in heavenly glory and dominion, and not 
in the least with the anomalous wild bears of 
the Greeks and the later Western peoples. 
The picture is that of the seed of faith spoken 
of in the text in its twofoldness—the Church 
of the first-born round about the throne, sig¬ 
nified by the Polar centre, and the Church of 
the after-born in still ampler numbers, led 
and guarded by the great Bootes amid the 
everlasting pastures. 

Argo. 

And to make this the clearer, the third 
Decan of Cancer was framed. This is Argo , 
the mysterious ship of the mysterious Argo¬ 
nauts returned from their successful expedi¬ 
tion to recover the Golden Fleece. Since 
the time of Homer, and long before Homer 
lived, the world has been full of noise about 
this ship and these gods and demigods of 
the Argonautic Expedition. But that same 
world till now has been floundering about to 
find a key to unlock the mystery in which the 
story is enveloped. Many are the sugges- 


330 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

tions to explain it, but all as empty of sat¬ 
isfactoriness as they are beneath the import¬ 
ance and significance always and everywhere 
attached to it. The trouble is, that men have 
ever persisted in trying to interpret it with 
reference to the affairs of ordinary human 
history or of some wild conceits of dream¬ 
ing poets; whereas it belongs to the mystic, 
spiritual, and prophetic ideas frescoed on the 
stars, and to nothing else under heaven. 
Taken in these relations, and construed with 
the rest of these signs as we found their true 
application to be, we can have no difficulty. 
That Golden Fleece was the lost treasure of 
human innocence and righteousness, of which 
the subtlety of the Serpent had bereft man¬ 
kind in the Garden of Eden, and so held and 
guarded it that no mere men could ever find 
or recover it. In the grove of Mars, the 
fierce god of justice, at Colchis , the citadel 
of atonement, it lay, the Serpent watching it 
with jealous and ever-wakeful eyes. Nor 
was there a mortal to be found able to ap¬ 
proach it until the true Jason, the Recoverer, 
the A toner, the Healer, even Jesus, came, or¬ 
ganized His Argo, His company of travellers, 
made up of heroes under His command and 
leadership, and went forth through various 


THE NAMES. 


331 


trials, conflicts, and sufferings, helped by the 
holy oracles that went along, and sustain¬ 
ed by the heavenly ointments and powers to 
heal the wounds and hurts that had to be 
encountered, and took the precious prize, and 
then through varied fortunes brings the he¬ 
roes back victorious to his own home-shores. 
And here, in the constellation of Argo , we 
have the picture of that return—the ship and 
the brave travellers come home, with the lost 
treasure regained, their toils and hazards and 
battles over, and blessed rest their lasting in¬ 
heritance. Here -the story fits in every part. 
It is the old ship of Zion landed in the heav¬ 
enly port. Understand it so, and every fea¬ 
ture takes on an evangelic light and a meaning 
commensurate with its fame. Nor is it pos¬ 
sible to contemplate the vivid correspondence 
without wonderment at the prophetic know¬ 
ledge and spiritual understanding and antici¬ 
pations of those primeval sages who framed 
these signs ind gave out their meaning. 

The Names. 

And what we thus read in the story of the 
Argonauts is confirmed by the names in the 
constellation itself. The brightest star in the 
group is Canopies or Canobus. And this is the 


33 2 the gospel in the stars. 

name of the great hero and helmsman, who 
died from the serpent’s bite, but whom the 
Egyptians worshipped as a divine being. 
The name itself means the possession of Him 
who ccmeth , and thus explains why the Egyp¬ 
tians represented Canobus by a great trea¬ 
sure-jar. Other names are also here which 
tell us what we are to understand. Sephina 
means multitudinous good , the very abundance 
of the seas and of treasures referred to by 
Moses under the sign of Issachar. Tureis 
means the firm possession in hand , the treasure 
secured. Asmidiska means the travellers re¬ 
leased ’ And Soheil means what was desired. 

In the Dendera Zodiac we have here the 
figure of a great ox enclosed, with the cross 
suspended from his neck, the symbol of the 
great possession marked with the ancient 
token of immortality and eternal life. And 
the name of this figure is Shes-en-Fent , re¬ 
joicing over the Serpent. All this expresses 
exactly what I have said is the great subject 
of Cancer. 

In the Persian Zodiac we have here three 
young women walking at leisure, the same 
with the daughters of Aish, signifying the 
Church in its final inheritance. 

Thus the whole presentation binds up and 


A SWEET CONSOLATION. 333 

links together from all sides to fix upon the 
sign of Cancer and its Decans the intention 
to make it the recorded symbol, prophecy, 
and hope of the heavenly rest for the re¬ 
deemed which shines so conspicuously in all 
the scriptural promises. It is the star-pic¬ 
ture of the multitudinous seed of faith at 
length possessing the gate of the enemy, 
rejoicing over him in life eternal, and going 
forth in abundant peace and blessedness, with 
the Serpent’s head effectually trodden beneath 
their feet. 


A Sweet Consolation. 

It is a blessed consolation to the oft-weary 
toilers and travellers in this world to know 
that there does remain a rest for the people 
of God. With all the trials and hardships to 
which they are subjected here, there is to 
come a blessed recompense. Jesus says: 
“Let not your heart be troubled; in my 
Father’s house are many mansions. I go to 
prepare a place for you; and if I go, and pre¬ 
pare a place for you, I will come again, and 
receive you unto myself, that where I am ye 
may be also” (John 14 : 1-3). Isaiah sings: 
“The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and 
come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy 


334 the gospel in the stars. 

upon their heads : they shall obtain joy and 
gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee 
away” (25:10). John in prophetic vision 
looked over into that other world, and writes: 
“ I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no 
man could number, of all nations, and kin¬ 
dreds, and peoples, and tongues stood before 
the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with 
white robes, and palms in their hands. These 
are they which came out of great tribulation, 
and have washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore 
are they before the throne of God, and serve 
Him day and night in His temple: and He 
that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among 
them. They shall hunger no more, neither 
thirst any more; neither shall the sun light 
on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which 
is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, 
and lead them unto living fountains of waters : 
and God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes” (Rev. 7:9-17); <( And there shall be 
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain: for the 
former things are passed away” (21 : 4). And 
even from His throne in glory the Saviour 
sends word to His struggling people: “To 
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with 


A SWEET CONSOLATION. 335 

Me in my throne, even as I also overcame, 
and am set down with my Father in His 
throne” (Rev. 3:21). Such are the great 
and precious promises given to us, and such 
the possession to which we aspire. They are 
promises also that shall surely be fulfilled. 
God has pledged himself by His oath to 
make them good. They are the same that 
glowed in the hearts of the primeval patri¬ 
archs, who saw them afar off, and were per¬ 
suaded of them, anci embraced them, and 
confessed that they were pilgrims and strang¬ 
ers on the earth. On these imperishable stars 
they hung and pictured their confident belief 
and anticipations, whereby they, being dead, 
yet speak—speak across these many thou¬ 
sands of years—speak for our comfort on 
whom the ends of the world have come. Let 
us, then, be encouraged to believe as they be¬ 
lieved, to hope as they hoped, laboring and 
looking for entrance into that same holy rest, 
even the everlasting kingdom of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ. 


^Lecture J^ourtenitfj. 


THE CONSUMMATED VICTORY. 


Rev. 5:5: “ Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, 
the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the 
seven seals thereof.” 


HE scene of these words was in the 



I heavenly spaces, whither the Apostle 
John had been caught up to witness what is 
to come to pass after the present Church- 
period comes to its close. They bring to 
view a great and oppressive sorrow and a 
great and glorious consolation. 

In the hand of enthroned Almightiness lay 
a roll or document written within and without 
and sealed with seven seals. That roll de¬ 
noted the title-deed of the inheritance which 
man had forfeited by disobedience, and which 
had reverted into the hand of God, to whom 
the race had become hopelessly indebted. 
Those “seven seals” attested the absolute¬ 
ness of the bonds of forfeit, and bespoke 
how completely the inheritance was disponed 
away and gone. Nor could it ever be recov- 


336 


THE CONSUMMATED VICTORY. 337 

ered to man, except as some one should be 
found with worth, merit, and ability to satisfy 
the claim, lift the document, and destroy its 
seals. But neither in heaven or earth nor 
under the earth did any one appear worthy 
to take up the writing, or even so much as to 
look upon it. This was the grief which made 
the Apostle weep. It seemed to say to him 
that man’s patrimony was clean gone for 
ever. It drew a dark and impenetrable veil 
over all the promises and over all man’s pros¬ 
pects, as if everything hoped for was now 
about to fail. Could it be that all the fond 
anticipations touching “ the redemption of 
the purchased possession” were now to mis¬ 
carry, and the whole matter, of which the 
saints had been prophesying so long, go by 
default ? So the matter looked, which was a 
grief indeed that well might overwhelm the 
soul of an Apostle, even in heaven. 

But, though John “wept much,” he was not 
left, to weep long. A voice from among 
the throned elders soon broke in to relieve 
his anxiety and dry his tears. That voice 
said : “ Weep not: behold , the Lion of the tribe 
of Judah , the Root of David , hath prevailed to 
open the book , and to loose the seven seals there¬ 
of!' This was the consolation which com- 
29 w 


338 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

forted the holy Seer, and which he was di¬ 
rected to write for the cheer and comfort of 
the sorrowing Church in all these ages since. 
And what was thus said to John, both in sub¬ 
stance and in figure, we likewise find written 
upon the stars in the twelfth and last sign of 
the Zodiac and its Decans. 

The Lion. 

The text speaks of a mystic Lion. The 
lion is a kingly, majestic, noble, but terrible 
creature, so strong and courageous as to fear 
nothing, and so fierce and powerful that no 
other animal can stand before him. The 
names of the lion in Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, 
and Coptic, though different, all signify about 
the same, and mean He that rends , that tears 
asunder, that destroys , that lays waste. The 
name in Greek and Latin is formed from 
words which express sharp and flaming sight, 
leaping forth as flames, coming with raging 
vehemence. From this we see how the ear¬ 
lier peoples were impressed by what they 
saw and knew of this terrible beast. The 
common sentiment of mankind has associ¬ 
ated it with royalty and dominion, and award¬ 
ed it the title of “ king of beasts.” It scarcely 
has an equal in physical strength, which is 


THE LION. 


339 


further combined with extraordinary quick¬ 
ness and agility. Ordained to feed on flesh, 
it is fitted for the work of capture and de¬ 
struction, and is supplied with the most pow¬ 
erful physical machinery conceivable for the 
purpose. It can easily kill and drag away a 
buffalo, and it can crush the skull of a horse 
or break the backbone of an ox with one 
stroke of its paw. Its claws can cut four 
inches in depth at a single grasp. It has 
great ivory teeth capable of crunching a bul¬ 
lock’s bones. The fall of its fore paw in 
striking is estimated to be equal to twenty- 
five pounds in weight, whilst it is able to 
handle itself with all the nimbleness of a cat, 
to whose family the lion belongs. The pos¬ 
session of such powers, with its instincts for 
blood, renders this animal wonderfully daring, 
bold, and self-confident, and the great terror 
of men and beasts in the vicinity of its haunts. 
When the lion is assailed and thoroughly 
aroused, and lifts himself up in proud con¬ 
templation of his foes, though banded in 
troops around him, his composed, majestic, 
and defiant mien is described as noble and 
magnificent beyond conception ; whilst the 
terribleness of his growl and the thunder of 
his roar contribute to make the picture al- 


340 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

most superhumanly impressive. And this is 
the image which we are called to contemplate 
in the text as describing the character and 
majesty of Christ in connection with the final 
scenes of the taking of the roll from the hand 
of eternal Godhead, the breaking of its seals, 
and the clearing of the earth from all enemies 
and usurpers. 

Christ as the Lion. 

When the dying Jacob blessed his sons, he 
pronounced Judah a lion , whom his brethren 
should praise, whose hand should be in the 
neck of his enemies, and before whom his 
father’s children would bow down (Gen. 49 : 
8, 9). His words on that occasion were all 
intensely prophetic. What he said of Judah 
applied to the warlike and victorious energy 
which was afterward shown in that tribe. 
The same received remarkable fulfilment in 
David, in whom the lion-nature was strikingly 
exhibited, and whose boast in the Lord was, 
“ By Thee I can dash in pieces the warlike 
people. I pursue after mine enemies, and 
overtake them, and turn again until I have 
consumed them” (Ps. 18). But these lion- 
qualities assigned to Judah looked onward 
to a still nobler King, who “ sprang out of Ju- 


CHRIST AS THE LIOH. 


341 


dah” as David’s lineal descendant and heir, 
who is at once David’s Lord and David’s son, 
and pre-eminently the Lion of whom Jacob 
spoke. 

Under the New Testament, and during the 
course of the existing Church-period, our 
Saviour is more commonly contemplated as 
the innocent, uncomplaining, and spotless 
Lamb of sacrifice, meekly yielding up His 
life that we might live. Even among the 
stupendous works of battle and judgment 
set forth in the Apocalypse, He still appears 
again and again as “ the Lamb”—“a Lamb as 
it had been slain,” “ the Lamb slain from the 
foundation of the w r orld”—by whose blood 
the saints are washed from their sins, their 
garments made white, and their final victory 
over all Satan’s accusations achieved. And 
to His people, even as the eternal Bride¬ 
groom, He will never cease to be the Lamb 
of God, by whose sacrificial death and medi¬ 
ation they have their standing and their bless¬ 
edness. Neither does He cease to be the 
Lamb even in connection with His being the 
terrible Lion. The Lamb is capable of wrath, 
and in the day of His wrath He is the Lion. 
He is the one to His friends, and He is the 
other to His enemies. Nay, He does not 


34 2 the gospel in the stars. 

come to the exercise of His powers and pre¬ 
rogatives as the Lion, except as he first clears 
away all impediments and overcomes all em¬ 
barrassments by means of sacrificial atone¬ 
ment and satisfaction for the sins of those 
for whom He at length takes the character 
of the Lion, to tear His and their enemies in 
pieces. This is what the elder means when 
.he says that this Lion of the tribe of Judah 
“ hath prevailed” so as to be in position of 
worthiness and ability, as the almighty Re¬ 
deemer, to go forward as a Lion to take the 
inheritance by destroying all who have ob¬ 
truded themselves upon it and presume to 
hold it in defiance of His royal rights. 

The Lion-Work. 

Nor are the Scriptures sparing in their ref¬ 
erences to this lion-character and lion-work 
of the glorious Redeemer when things have 
once come to ripeness for the sharp sickle of 
judgment. Not only Jacob and Moses, but 
all the prophets, have alluded to it. Thus 
the word of the Lord by Hosea (13:7,8) 
was: “ I will be unto them as a lion. I will 
rend the caul of their heart. I will devour 
them like a lion.” Thus Zephaniah (3 : 8) 
prophesied: “Wait ye upon me, saith the 


THE LION-WORK. 


343 


Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey : 
for my determination is to gather the nations, 
that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour 
upon them my indignation, even all my fierce 
anger: for all the earth shall be devoured 
with the fire of my jealousy.” Thus Isaiah 
(42 : 13), referring to the period of the judg¬ 
ment, says : “ The Lord shall go forth as a 
mighty man, He shall stir up His jealousy 
like a man of war: He shall cry, yea, roar; 
He shall prevail against His enemies.” Thus 
Amos declares: “ The Lord will roar from 
Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; 
and the habitations of the shepherds shall 
mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither. 
Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath 
no prey?” (1:2; 3 : 4, 8). “Consider this,” 
saith the Lord (Ps. 50: 22), “ ye that forget 
God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be 
none to deliver.” 

And here, in the sign of Leo, is this very 
Lion, thoroughly aroused, salient, and full 
of majesty, the same in all the pictorial Zo¬ 
diacs of all nations. It is the same “ Lion of 
the tribe of Judah ” to which the text refers, 
for in the Jewish astronomy this twelfth sign 
was the sign of Judah. He is the Lion of 
Judah in the text, and He is the Lion of Ju- 


344 the gospel in the stars. 

dah in the Zodiac. The record of the signs 
and the record of the Word are here precisely 
identical. The coincidence is positive and ab¬ 
solute, and rests on no mere inferences from 
mere likeness or concurring circumstances. 
The picture in the sky is one and the same 
with the picture in the Revelation as shown 
to John in his visions in Patmos. 

In the Apocalypse the Lion-Lamb takes 
the roll from the hand of eternal Majesty 
amid thrills of exultation which shake the 
whole intelligent universe from centre to cir¬ 
cumference. He tears asunder seal after seal, 
until the very last is reached and broken, and 
with each there bursts forth a divine almighti- 
ness, seizing and convulsing the whole world 
as it never before was affected. The white 
horse of conquering power, and the red 
horse of war and bloodshed, and the black 
horse of scarcity and famine, and the cadav¬ 
erous horse of Death with Hades at his heels, 
dash forth in invincible energy upon the apos¬ 
tate populations of the earth. The heavens 
are shaken, and seem to collapse like a fall¬ 
ing tent, the earth is filled with quaking, the 
mountains and islands are moved out of 
their places, and the mightiest and bravest, 
as well as the weakest, of men are filled with 


THE LION-WORK. 


345 


horror and dismay. The great tribulation, 
the like of which never was and never again 
shall be, sets in. The golden censers of the 
heavenly temple, filled with fire from the ce¬ 
lestial altar, are emptied into the earth amid 
cries and thunders and terrific perturbations. 
The judgment-angels sound their trumpets 
and pour out the contents of their bowls of 
wrath, filling the world with burning and bit¬ 
terness and tripled woe, unloosing hell itself 
to overrun and deceive and torment the na¬ 
tions, developing all their antichristianism 
into one great and all-commanding embodi¬ 
ment of consummated iniquity, and gather¬ 
ing its abettors at the last into the great 
winepress of the wrath of God, to be trodden 
by the divine Avenger till the blood flows in 
depth to the horses’ bridles for more than a 
hundred miles, and who will no more give 
over until the beasts from the abyss, and the 
Devil, and all theirs, are cast into the burning 
lake of the second death. 

Such is the Lion-work of the Root and Off¬ 
spring of David as it was shown to the Apos¬ 
tle John, and directed to be written for our 
learning. And what is thus pictured in the 
last book of the Scriptures is the same that 
was fore-intimated and recorded in this last 


346 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

sign of the Zodiac before any one book of 
our present Bible was written. 

The Sign of Leo. 

Here is the great Lion in all the majesty 
of His fierce wrath— Ary eh, He who rends; 
Al Sad , He who tears and lays waste; Pi- 
mentekeon , the Pourer-out of rage, the Tearer 
asunder; Leoji , the vehemently coming, the 
leaping forth as a consuming fire. The chief 
star embraced in this figure, situated in the 
Lion’s breast, whence its mighty paws pro¬ 
ceed, bears the name of Regel or Regulus , 
which means the feet which crush , as where 
it is said of the Messiah that He shall tread 
upon the serpent and asp, and trample the 
dragon under His feet (Ps. 91 : 13). The 
second star in Leo is called Denebola , the 
Judge, the Lord who cometh with haste. The 
third star is Al Giebha , the exalted, the exalt¬ 
ation. Other names in the sign are Zosma , 
the shining forth, the epiphany; Minchir al 
Asad , the punishing or tearing of him who 
lays waste; Deneb al Eced , the Judge com¬ 
ing, who seizes or violently takes ; and Al 
Defera , the putting down of the enemy. 

As nearly and fully as names can express 
it, we thus have the same things in the Zo- 


HYDRA. 


34 7 


diacal Leo that we find ascribed to the Lion 
of the tribe of Judah in the Apocalypse. 
They both tell one and the same story—the 
story of the wrath of the Lamb, and His 
great and final judgment-administrations, in 
which the kingdom of Daniel’s mystic stone, 
cut out of the mountain without hands, falls 
upon, breaks in pieces, grinds to powder, and 
scatters in undistinguishable dust all other 
kingdoms and powers, and sweeps everything 
inimical to a common and eternal perdition. 

And what we find so vividly pictured and 
expressed in the sign is still further and most 
unmistakably corroborated in its accompany¬ 
ing side-pieces or Decans. 

Hydra. 

The great mission of the promised Seed 
of the woman was effectually to bruise the 
Serpent’s head. This is the all-comprehending 
burden of the assurance given to fallen Adam, 
and his children after him. The Serpent was 
the subtle and snaky creature which deceived 
and seduced our first parents into transgres¬ 
sion. Whether in the form of a literal snake 
is not worth our while to inquire; but it was 
some visible serpentine shape by which Eve 
was approached, and in and behind which was 


348 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

a treacherous, intelligent, evil spirit, who re¬ 
appears again and again in the histories and 
prophecies of the Scriptures, even up to the 
end, as “ the great Dragon, that old Serpent, 
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth 
the whole world” (Rev. 12: 9). He was 
once a good angel and a chief among the 
angels, but “ kept not his first estate,” left his 
place as one of God’s loyal subjects, abused 
his free will to sin and rebellion, and fell 
under bonds of condemnation, in which he is 
held over unto the judgment of the great day. 
Meanwhile, he is exerting his great powers to 
the utmost in malignity toward God and all 
good. By his successful deception of our 
first parents he got a footing in this world, 
and has here planted and organized a vast 
Satanic kingdom, over which he reigns, and 
which he inspires and directs, impiously set¬ 
ting himself up as another god over against 
the true and only God, and particularly against 
Christ as the rightful Heir and King of the 
earth. Hence the saying of the Apostle 
Paul, which is ever true of all God’s people: 
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but 
against principalities, against powers, against 
the rulers of the darkness of this world, 
against wicked spirits in the air ” (Eph. 6: 12). 


HYDRA. 


349 


During these six thousand years, which the 
Apostle calls “mans day ” as distinguished 
from “ the Lord's day ” or the day of enforced 
heavenly rule, this subtle and snaky spirit has 
managed to worm himself into everything that 
goes to make up human life, corrupting and 
perverting it .to his own base ends, seating 
himself in all the centres of influence and 
power, and making himself the very king and 
god of this world. From all these places he 
must be dislodged, his dominion broken, his 
works destroyed, and he and all his effect¬ 
ually rooted out and put down, before the 
heavenly kingdom can come in its fulness or 
the great redemption-work reach its intended 
consummation. In other words, the whole 
■empire and influence of the Serpent must be 
rent to atoms, worked clean out of the whole 
realm of humanity, and so crushed as never 
to be able to lift up its head again. Toward 
this end all the dispensations and gifts of 
God, from the first promise to Adam until 
now, have been directed. Toward this end 
all the works and administrations of Christ 
to this present are framed. To this end He 
is to come again in power and great glory as 
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to “put down 
all rule and all authority and power,” and 

30 


350 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

to trample “all enemies beneath His feet.” 
And here, in the first Decan of Leo, is the 
grand picture of that consummation. Here 
is Hydra , that old Serpent, whose length 
stretches one-third the way around the whole 
sphere, completely expelled from the places 
into which he had obtruded, fleeing now for 
his life, and the great Lion, with claws and 
jaws extended, bounding in terrific fury and 
seizing the foul monster’s neck. 

Myths and Names. 

According to the myths, this Hydra was 
the terrible monster which infested the Ler- 
naean lake—image of this corrupt world. It 
was said to have a hundred heads, neither of 
which could be killed simply by cutting off, 
for unless the wound was burned with fire 
two immediately grew out where there was 
only one before. The poets describe him as 

“ Raising a hundred hissing heads in air; 

When one was lopped, up sprang a dreadful pair.” 

All this answers wonderfully well to the his¬ 
tory of evil in the world, and the impossibil¬ 
ity of effectually overcoming it in any one of 
its manifestations except by the fires of judg¬ 
ment. 


MYTHS AND NAMES. 


351 


The myths further say that it was one of 
the great labors imposed on Herakles to des¬ 
troy this dreadful monster, in which he also 
succeeded, helped by his faithful companion 
and charioteer, Iolaus. But his success was 
only by means of fire and burning, by ap¬ 
plying a red-hot iron to the wound as head 
after head was severed from the horrid form. 
Herakles was the deliverer sent to free the 
world of its great pests. He was the myth- 
ologic symbol of the Seed of the woman who 
was to come to make an end of all ill powers. 
Mythology thus answers to Revelation, and 
well bears out the interpretation of Hydra as 
a picture of Satan finally vanquished, rent, 
burned, destroyed by the fury of Judah’s 
Lion. 

In the Dendera sphere the Lion stands di¬ 
rectly on the Serpent, whilst underneath is 
the hieroglyphic name Knem, which means 
vanquished, conquered. The plain idea is 
that here is the end of the Serpent-dominion. 

The name Hydra means the Abhorred. The 
principal star, Al Phard , means the Separated , 
the Excluded , the Put out of the way. Another 
name in the constellation is Minchir al Sugia , 
which means the punishing , or tearing to pieces , 
of the Deceiver . 


352 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Everything thus falls in with the one idea, 
and adds its share to prove that we here 
have, by the intent of those who framed 
these signs, a direct and graphic picture of 
the glorious triumph of the Seed of the wo¬ 
man crushing the Serpent’s head and putting 
him out of the way for ever. 

And if further evidence is needed, it is fur¬ 
nished in the two remaining Decans of this 
final sign. 

Crater, or the Cup of Wrath. 

The Psalmist (75 : 8) says: “ In the hand of 
the Lord there is a cup , and the wine is red ; 
it is full of mixture; and He poureth out of 
the same: but the dregs thereof all the wick¬ 
ed of the earth shall wring out, and drink 
“ Upon the wicked He shall rain burning 
coals, fire and brimstone, and a fiery tempest: 
this shall be the portion of their aip” (11 : 6). 
Concerning every worshipper of the Beast 
John heard the angel proclaim, “ The same 
shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 
which is poured out without mixture into the 
cup of His indignation ; and he shall be tor¬ 
mented with fire and brimstone in the pres¬ 
ence of the holy angels, and in the presence 
of the Lamb ; and the smoke of their torment 


CRATER, OR THE CUP OF WRATH. 353 

ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they 
have no rest day nor night” (Rev. 14:10, 
11). The portion of the worshippers of the 
son of perdition is “ the lake of fire,” and the 
same is likewise dealt out to the Beast and 
the False Prophet, and ultimately to the 
Devil himself: for John saw him “cast into 
the lake of fire and brimstone, where the 
Beast and the False Prophet are,” and where 
he “ shall be tormented day and night for 
ever and ever” (Rev. 20 : 10). In other 
words, he and all his are to drink of the wine 
of the wrath of God which is poured out with¬ 
out adulteration or dilution into the cup of 
the divine indignation. 

And lo! here, as the second Decan of 
Leo, we have the very picture of that Cup, 
broad, deep, full to the brim, and placed di¬ 
rectly on the body of this writhing Serpent! 
Nay, the same is sunk into his very sub¬ 
stance, for the same stars which mark the 
bottom of the Cup are part of the body of 
the accursed monster, so that the curse is 
fastened down on him and in him as an ele¬ 
ment of all his after being! Dreadful be¬ 
yond all thought is the picture John gives of 
this Cup of unmingled and eternal wrath, but 
not a whit more dreadful than the picture of 
30 * x 


354 the gospel in the stars. 

it which the primeval prophets have thus in¬ 
scribed upon the stars. 

CoRVUS, OR THE RAVEN. 

But this is not all. The wise man says, 
“The eye that mocketh at his father, and 
despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of 
the valley shall pick it out, and the young 
eagles shall eat it” (Prov. 30:17). When 
David, the first great impersonation of Ju¬ 
dah’s Lion, met the terrible Goliath of Gath, 
he cursed him in the name of the Lord God 
of Israel, and said : “ I will smite thee, and 
take thy head from thee; and I will give the 
carcasses of the host of the Philistines this 
day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild 
beasts of the earth” (1 Sam. 17:46). So, 
when the Lord of lords and King of kings 
dashes forth on the white horse, with the 
armies of heaven following Him on white 
horses, to tread the winepress of the fierce¬ 
ness and wrath of Almighty God, an angel 
stands in the sun, calling with a great voice 
to all the fowls and birds of prey to come and 
feast themselves on the flesh of the enemy 
(Rev. 19:17, 18). And here, in the third 
Decan of Leo, we have the pictorial sign of 
the same thing. Here is Corvus , the Raven, 


THE CAREER OF THE SERPENT. 355 

the bird of punishment and final destruction, 
grasping the body of Hydra with its feet and 
tearing him with its beak. 

The myths have but little sensible or con¬ 
sistent to say of this Raven, except in mak¬ 
ing it the symbol of punished treachery. 
The Greeks and Romans had for the most 
part lost its meaning. The Egyptians called 
it Her-na , the Enemy broken. The star in 
the eye of this ill-omened bird is called Al 
Chiba , the Curse inflicted. Another name in 
the constellation is Minchir al Gorab , the Ra¬ 
ven tearing to pieces. It is the sign of the 
absolute discomfiture and destruction of the 
Serpent and all his power; for when the 
birds once begin to tear and gorge the flesh 
of fallen foes, no further power to resist, harm, 
or annoy remains in them. Their course is run. 

Thus, then, and thus completely, does Ju¬ 
dah’s Lion dispose of that old Serpent-enemy, 
with all his Hydra heads, when once the day 
of final settlement comes. 

The Career of the Serpent. 

Great and marvellous is the part which this 
arch-enemy has played in the history of our 
race, is still playing, and will yet play before 
the end is reached. Like a dark and chilling 


356 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

shadow he came up upon the new-born world, 
insinuated his slime into the garden of human 
innocence, deceived and disinherited the race 
at its very spring, and so spun his webs around 
the souls of the earlier generations as to drag 
almost the entire population of the earth to 
one common ruin. Hardly had that great 
calamity passed when he began again with 
new schemes to get men in his power and 
sway them to his will. Before the Flood he 
won them through their carnal passions. Now 
he set himself to taint their holy worship, per¬ 
verting it into idolatries which have held and 
debased the great body of mankind for these 
forty centuries, and still holds great portions 
of the world in darkness and in death. Then 
he plied them with visions of empire and do¬ 
minion, and thus filled the earth and the ages 
with murderous tyrannies, misrule, oppres¬ 
sions, wars, and political abominations. Then 
he began to corrupt the thinking and philos¬ 
ophies of men, thereby making them willing 
slaves to damning error. And even to-day 
he is the very god of this world , to whose lies 
the vast majority of the race render homage, 
whose rule is in living sway over at least two- 
thirds of the population of the earth, which 
is full of misery from his power. 


THE END . 


35 7 


Nor is there the slightest solid ground for 
hope that it will be essentially otherwise till 
the great Lion of the tribe of Judah comes 
forth in the fury of his almightiness to make 
an utter end of him and his infernal domina¬ 
tion. But his doom is sealed. On the face 
of these lovely stars it has been written from 
the beginning, the same as in the Book. 
Though Satan’s grasp upon our world should 
hold through the long succession of two-thirds 
of the signs, there is at last a Lion in the way, 
alive, awake, and mighty, even that Seed of 
the woman whom he has all these ages been 
wounding in the heel and trying to defeat and 
destroy. That Lion he cannot pass. Cun¬ 
ningly as the subtle Deceiver has wound him¬ 
self about everything, injecting his poison and 
making firm his hellish dominion, he will soon 
be dragged forth to judgment, seized by al¬ 
mighty power, crushed, torn, pierced, put 
under the bowl of eternal wrath, whilst the 
hundred-headed body in which he has oper¬ 
ated through all these ages is given to the 
black birds of uncleanness to be devoured. 

The End. 

And when the Serpent thus falls the circle 
of time is complete, and it is eternity. There 


358 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

is no continuity of the way of time beyond 
the victorious triumphs of Judah’s Lion. 
Death, and Hell, and all the wild beasts, with 
all their children, and the old Serpent, their 
father, with them, thenceforward have their 
place in the everlasting prison burning with 
fire and brimstone, which is the second death. 
And outside of that dread place “ there shall 
be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain : for the 
former things are passed away.” Then the 
great voices in heaven sing: “ Behold, the 
tabernacle of God is with men, and He will 
dwell with them, and they shall be His peo¬ 
ple, and God himself shall be with them, and 
be their Godfor they “ shall inherit all 
things' ’ (Rev. 21). 

Blessed consummation ! How should we 
look and long and pray for it, as Jesus has 
directed where He tells us to say, “ Thy king- 
dom come—Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven ” ! Well might one of England’s great¬ 
est poets cry: “ Come forth out of Thy royal 
chambers, O Prince of all the kings of the 
earth ! Put on the visible robes of Thy impe¬ 
rial Majesty! Take up the unlimited sceptre 
which Thy almighty Father hath bequeathed 
Thee! For now the voice of Thy bride calls 


THE END. 


359 


Thee, and all creatures sigh to be renewed.” 
How cheering the hope, amidst the clash of 
conflicting-beliefs, the strife of words, the din 
of war, the shouts of false joy, the yells of 
idolatry, the sneers of unbelief, the agonies 
of a dying race, and the groans of a whole 
creation travailing in pain together in conse¬ 
quence of the Serpent’s malignity, that a pe¬ 
riod is coming when eternal death shall be 
that Serpent’s portion ; when peace and order 
and heavenliness shall stretch their bright 
wings over the happy sons of men ; when 
rivers of joy proceeding from the throne of 
God and of the Lamb shall water all this 
vale of tears; when cherubim to cherubim 
shall cry, “ Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God 
of hosts; the whole earth is full of His 
glorywhen myriads of myriads and thou¬ 
sands of thousands of angels round about 
the throne shall join in the acclaim of “ Wor¬ 
thy is the Lamb which hath been slain, to re¬ 
ceive the Power, and Riches, and Wisdom, 
and Might, and Honor, and Glory, and Bless¬ 
ing;” and when every creature which is in 
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, 
and upon the sea, and all things in them, shall 
sing, “ To Him that sitteth upon the throne, 
and to the Lamb, be the Blessing, and the 


360 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Honor, and the Glory, and the Dominion, for 
the ages of the ages ” ! Yet such is our hope 
given us as an anchor for our souls, both sure 
and steadfast, entering into that within the 
veil, and linking us even now to those solid 
shores of the world to come. We have it in 
the written word of Prophets and Apostles, 
and the same is certified to us by these ever¬ 
lasting stars in their ceaseless journeyings 
around the pathway of the circling year. God 
be thanked for such a hope ! God be thanked 
for the full and wide-sounding testimony to 
its certainty! God be thanked that it has 
come to us, and that ours is the privilege of 
taking it to our souls in the confidence and 
comfort that it shall be fulfilled ! 

“ Not the light that leaves us darker. 

Not the gleams that come and go, 

Not die mirth whose end is madness, 

Not the joy whose fruit is woe; 

Not the notes that die at sunset, 

Not the fashion of a day ; 

But the everlasting beauty 
And the endless melody, 

Heir of glory ! 

That shall be for thee and me.” 


Hecture jfiftccntlj. 


THE SECRETS OF WISDOM. 


Job 1 1 : 6 : “ He would show thee the secrets of wisdom, that they 
are double to that which is.” 



HINGS are more than they seem. They 


X are not only more in themselves than 
we can know or understand, but they are re¬ 
lated to other and hidden spheres beyond 
the reach of our natural reason. “ They are 
double” in their expression, so that what is 
external and natural at the same time includes 
something recondite and spiritual. The Scrip¬ 
tures everywhere recognize this, and con¬ 
stantly proceed upon it in what we call sym¬ 
bols, types, parables, allegories, and tropes. 
And the true “ secrets of wisdom,” as well as 
the characteristics of divine teaching, accord¬ 
ing to Zophar, lie in this double of what we 
naturally observe and experience. 

In so far, then, as this doubleness of show¬ 
ing is a mark of divine teaching, the pri¬ 
meval astronomy is pre-eminently a part of 
God’s own revelation; for here we find not 


361 


31 


362 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

only a superhuman knowledge of the natural 
economy of the starry heavens, but a double¬ 
ness of expression by which we may also 
read the whole system of Messianic truths, 
predictions, and hopes. 

To human observation there is nothing 
grander than this universe of heavenly worlds. 
The study of them is justly regarded as the 
sublimest of the sciences. But, on the basis 
of these natural facts and presentations, there 
is a duplicate of meaning touching another 
department of the divine manifestations which 
is vastly sublimer and more precious than all 
the knowledge of astronomy. 

The Ground thus Far. 

In our endeavors to trace this double of 
the starry expressions we have been occu¬ 
pied entirely with the Solar Zodiac and its 
thirty-six Decans. In this we have indeed 
the main stellar presentations. Following 
this Way through its various steps or sta¬ 
tions, with their explanatory Faces, we ne¬ 
cessarily have before us all the most con¬ 
spicuous markings of the heavens. And if 
there really is a legible record of the Gospel 
in the stars, it must be found, above all, in 
what we have thus gone over. Whether the 


THE GROUND THUS FAR. 363 

findings have in fact been such as to warrant 
us in concluding that Christ and His fore- 
announced achievements are there symbol¬ 
ized, must be decided by those who will can¬ 
didly consider what has been brought out. 
For my own part, I have not the slightest 
doubt or question on the subject. Taking 
the facts, figures, and names as our common, 
every-day astronomy gives them, I find such 
clear and evident marks of connection and 
design, such thorough consistency in the elab¬ 
oration of all the details, such distinct and 
orderly progress of thought in the arrange¬ 
ments of beginning, continuity, and end, such 
a universal and multitudinous array of myths 
and legends founded on the constellations and 
running parallel with their meaning as thus 
interpreted, such a complete identity of im¬ 
ages and terms with the scriptural presenta¬ 
tions of the same things, and such a self- 
evidencing and exhaustive outlining of all 
the great features of the Gospel story, along 
with such a profound and accurate penetration 
into the whole organization of the visible uni¬ 
verse,—that I should have to go against all 
laws of evidence and principles of logic not 
to accept it as very truth that these heavens 
do declare “the glory of God” as embodied 


364 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

in the person, mission, work, and redemptive 
achievements of His Son Jesus Christ. 

The Lunar Zodiac. 

But the markings of the heavens are not 
exhausted by what pertains to the Solar Zo¬ 
diac and its Decans. There is also a Lunar 
Zodiac. It consists of the same belt as the 
Solar Zodiac, but divides that belt into twenty- 
eight in place of twelve parts or steps; and 
these twenty-eight are called the Mansions 
of the Moon. To each of these twenty-eight 
steps a particular name is given. In the In¬ 
dian astronomy each of these steps or Man¬ 
sions also had a particular figure additional 
to the name ; but the figures are not invari¬ 
ably the same. In China and Arabia the 
names are more uniform, but are given with¬ 
out figures or emblems. The Parsis also had 
the Lunar Zodiac, and made much of it. 

Astronomers agree in regarding this Lunar 
Zodiac as containing the most ancient remains 
of the science of the stars. The Romans, 
Greeks, and Egyptians knew little or noth¬ 
ing about it, but it is a matter of record in 
China that it was known and understood in 
that country as early as the reign of Yao, 
about twenty-three hundred years before the 


THE LUNAR ZODIAC. 


365 

Christian era, which was before the time of 
Abraham.* In the Chinese astronomy it be¬ 
gins with Virgo, which would seem to indi¬ 
cate that the Chinese table came from the 
antediluvian times. 

The Lunar Zodiac is manifestly from the 
same source as the Solar, and great import¬ 
ance was attached to it wherever the know¬ 
ledge of it was preserved in living observance. 
In Arabia and in India from time immemorial 
these Mansions of the Moon held place and 
rank equal, if not superior, to the Solar Zo¬ 
diac, and are found interwoven with all poetry 
and science, and incorporated not only into 
the worship and mythology, but also into va¬ 
rious customs of private life. Children there 
are still frequently named according to the 
Lunar Mansions under which they were born. 

They are preserved in Scandinavia and 
Burmah, and traces of them have been found 
in the ruins of ancient Mexico. A 1 Fergani 
in Bagdad, Albumazer in Spain, and Ulugh 
Beigh, the Tartar prince and astronomer, 
grandson of Tamerlane, have transmitted to 

* This point is scientifically presented in Max Muller’s Sacred 
Books of the East , vol. iii., by James Legge, where it is said that 
“ the most common, and what was the earliest, division of the Eclip¬ 
tic in China is that of the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions, forming 
what we may call the Chinese Zodiac.” 


366 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

us the names and enumerations of these 
Mansions of the Moon, and preserved to the 
world the evidences of their corresponding 
antiquity with the twelve signs of the Solar 
Zodiac.* 

There is, therefore, every reason to expect, 
if it was meant that the stars should carry a 
prophetic record of the Gospel, that we would 
find it also in the arrangement and naming 
of these Lunar Mansions. And, as we would 
anticipate, so it really is. 

Names of the Lunar Mansions. 

Christ was predicted as “ the Desire of 
nations,” “ the Desire of womenand so 
the first of these Mansions is named Al 
Awa , the Desired. Christ was foretold as 
“the Branch,” God’s “servant the Branch,” 
“ the Branch of Righteousness who shall exe¬ 
cute judgment,” and the like ; and the second 
of these Mansions is called Simak al Azel , 
Branch of the power of God. It was pre¬ 
dicted of Christ that His soul should be made 
an offering for sin (Isa. 53:10): “ He is the 
propitiation for our sins and for the sins of 

* See Hyde’s Syntagma, vol. i.; Freytag’s Arabic Lexicon; and 
Le Gentil, Voy. dans les Indes. 


THE LUNAR MANSIONS. 


367 


the whole world.” And so the third of these 
Mansions bears the name of Caphir , the 
Atonement\ the Propitiation by sacrifice. 

These three Mansions correspond to Virgo. 

Christ was everywhere promised as the Re¬ 
deemer, the Saviour, He who should bring re¬ 
demption ; and the fourth of these Mansions 
is named Al Zubena , the redeeming , the re¬ 
gaining by purchase , the buying back . When 
Christ died he said, “ It is finishedand the 
fifth of these Mansions is named Al Iclil , the 
complete submission. 

These two names answer to Libra. 

And so the list proceeds in strict accord 
with the scriptural prophecies and descrip¬ 
tions of the Seed of the woman. Thus: 

Corresponding to Scorpio. 

Al Kalb, the cleaving or wounding; Al 
Shaula, the sting, the deadly wound. 

Corresponding to Sagittarius. 

Al Naim , the gracious, the delighted in ; Al 
Beldah, hastily coming, as to judgment. 

So far, the reference plainly is to the^person 
and work of Christ as respects himself, as in 
the first quaternary of the Solar Zodiac. 

The succeeding series runs thus: 


368 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


Corresponding to Capricornus. 

Al Dibahy the sacrifice slain. 

Corresponding to Aquarius. 

Salad al Bula , witness of the rising or 
drinking in; Salad al Su'ud y witness of the 
swimming or outpouring; Al Achbiya , the 
fountain of pouring. 

Corresponding to Pisces. 

Al Pherg al Muchaddem, the progeny of 
the ancient times ; Al Pherg al Muachher , the 
progeny of the latter times; Al Risha , the 
band, the joined together. 

Corresponding to Aries. 

Al Sheratany the wounded, that was cut off; 
Al Boteiriy the treading under foot; Al Thur- 
aiya, the enemy punished. 

These names thus run in remarkable paral¬ 
lel of meaning with the signs and more ample 
showings in the second quaternary of the 
Solar Zodiac. It is the same also with regard 
to the rest of these names as compared with 
the last four signs. 


THE MILKY WA Y. 


3^9 


Corresponding to Taurus. 

Al Debar an, the Leader, the Governor, the 
Subduer; Al Heka , the driving away. 

Corresponding to Gemini. 

Al Henah , the wounded in the foot; Al Di- 
rah , the ill-treated. 

Corresponding to Cancer. 

Al Nethra , the treasure, the possession ; Al 
Terpha , the healed, the delivered, the saved. 

Corresponding to Leo. 

Al Gieba, the exaltation, the Prince; Al 
Ziibra, the heaped-up, as sin and delayed 
punishment; Al Serpha, the burning, the fu¬ 
neral-pyre. 

The whole series of these names thus runs 
parallel with the signs of the Solar Zodiac, 
and ends up precisely in the same way, prov¬ 
ing that they are of a piece with it. 

The Milky Way. 

Another distinct marking of the heavens 
is a snowy belt, from four to twenty degrees 
or more in width, which stretches obliquely 
over the sky from south-west to north-east, 

Y 


3 70 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

thus cutting the Ecliptic, and extending en¬ 
tirely around the whole circuit of the heavens 
in another direction. It is best seen in the 
months from June to November, and looks 
like a great river of hazy brightness. It is 
called the Galaxy, the Milky Way, the Galac¬ 
tic Circle. It was once supposed to be a vast 
collection of nebulous matter consisting of yet 
forming or unformed stars, but later inves¬ 
tigations have demonstrated that the whole 
Milky Way is made up of myriads on myriads 
of suns like ours, which is itself one of them. 
Milton refers to this great belt as 

“ A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold, 

And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear— 

A circling zone, powdered with stars.” 

The ancient heathen poets and philosophers 
spoke of this Way as the path which their 
deities used in the heavens, and claimed that 
it led directly to the throne and “ the Thun¬ 
derer’s abode.” And if the primeval prophets 
had wished to mark on the sky the steps and 
stages in the life and work of the promised 
Seed of the woman, and the results of the 
same, this marvellous “pathway of the gods” 
was well suited to their purpose. And so we 
also find it employed. 

Twelve of the constellations are situated 


THE MILKY WAY. 


371 


in or on this Milky Way; six of which relate 
to the first advent, and six to the second. 
They start at the lowest point with the Cross 
and the Altar of sacrifice, the burning pen¬ 
alty of sin ; as Christ humbled himself and 
became obedient unto death, even the death 
of the cross, and laid the foundations of sal¬ 
vation in becoming a curse for us. Then 
comes the cleft of Scorpio, the sting of death 
and the power of hell, seeming to split 
asunder the Milky Way itself. Then comes 
the Eagle pierced; then the Swan on out¬ 
spread wings, going and returning with the 
bright cross displayed upon its breast for all 
the world to see; and then the royal Cepheus 
swaying the sceptre of empire, with his foot 
upon the pole of dominion, high over all au¬ 
thority and power; all of which epitomizes 
with great exactness the biblical portraiture 
of Christ’s history up to the time when He 
is to come again. 

The first thing to occur when the time of 
Christ’s second coming arrives is the seizing 
away of His true people, dead and alive, to 
himself in the sky; and so the next sign on 
this Way is that of Cassiopeia , the enthroned 
woman, the Church set free from its bonds 
and crowned with heavenly glory. 


372 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

The next picture is that of Perseus , the 
illustrious Breaker, full-armed and winged, 
the savior of Andromeda, whom he has en¬ 
gaged to make his bride, and the slayer of 
the Gorgon, whose head, writhing with matted 
snakes, he bears away in triumph. 

The next is Auriga, the mighty Shepherd, 
ruling the nations with a rod of iron, but 
having the glorified Church in His bosom, 
and holding the alarmed little kids all safe 
on His mighty hand. 

The next succeeding picture is that of 
Gemini , the heavenly union of Christ and 
His Church, the marriage of the Lamb. 

The fifth picture is that of the doubly-glo- 
rious Orion, the mighty Hunter of all the 
wild beasts of apostate power in all their 
lurking-places, going forth in His princely 
and all-conquering energy, treading down the 
Serpent beneath His feet, and slaying even 
Death and Hell. 

And then comes the last of the series, 
Argo , the anchored ship of the heroes re¬ 
turned from their perilous expedition to re¬ 
cover the Golden Fleece, securely landed now 
on the home-shores, with their imperishable 
treasure secured for ever. This completes 
the circle of the Snowy Way, which even the 


THE PRIMEVAL PATRIARCHS. ^73 

heathen recognized and celebrated as the 
path to glory and to God. 

Could this arrangement, so clear, so con¬ 
sistent, and so thoroughly conformed to all 
that the Scriptures teach us on the subject 
of our salvation, have come about by mere 
accident ? Fitted in as it is with the Zodiacal 
showings, on a circle so different, and yet, 
in its own path, exhibiting the same story so 
vividly and so fully, how can we otherwise 
conclude but that here is proof of a purpose, 
and of the operation of some great master 
mind at once familiar with the whole Gospel 
scheme and with the whole system of the 
starry economies ? 

But if we take the conclusion which thus 
presses upon our accepfance, then we might 
also reasonably expect to find other recogni¬ 
tions of it, and to be able to trace the same 
in the ancient symbolisms of the earthly econ¬ 
omies also. And here too we only need to 
look to find many remarkable facts. 

The Primeval Patriarchs. 

Take, for example, the names of the ante¬ 
diluvian patriarchs as given in the fifth chapter 
of Genesis. From early Christian antiquity 
these have been held to contain a synopsis 

32 


374 the gospel in the stars. 

of the whole Gospel story. These names all 
have meanings; and those meanings, taken 
in their historic order, indicate the main things 
in the history of our redemption. But who 
would anticipate, without being told it, that 
these names and their meanings equally cor¬ 
respond with the Zodiac in the senses in which 
I have been explaining them ? 

Adam means the bright, the excellent, the 
godlike, and also to suffer death. And who 
is the fountain and soul of our salvation but 
another Adam, the brightness of the Father’s 
glory and the express image of His person, 
given to die for our sins ? But this is the 
picture of the Seed of the woman in Virgo , 
glorious as Spica, blessed as the Branch, 
precious as the Desired One, like God as 
Son of God, and the sufferer as Centaur and 
the Victim! 

Seth means appointed in the place of an¬ 
other, a substitute, a compensation, a price. 
So Christ is our Seth , appointed to take our 
place as our substitute, making compensation 
for our sins, and paying the price by which 
we are redeemed. But this is the precise rep¬ 
resentation given in the sign of Libra! 

Enos means mortal, suffering, afflicted. So 
Christ was the appointed bearer of our griefs, 


THE PRIMEVAL PATRIARCHS. 2)7S 

the carrier of our sorrows, stricken, smitten 
of God, and afflicted, by whose stripes heal¬ 
ing comes to us. But this again is the exact 
showing we had in the sign of Scorpio ! 

Cainan means acquisition, forcible gaining 
of possession. So Christ’s mission is to 
bruise the Serpent’s head, tp ride forth here¬ 
after in joyous majesty as a warrior, whose 
right hand shows terrible things, and whose 
arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s 
enemies. But this is the precise exhibit in 
the sign of Sagittarius! 

Mahalaleel means the display or praise of 
God. And so it is everywhere set forth as 
the particular outshining of God’s glory and 
the special topfc of His praise that Christ 
was “delivered for our offences and raised 
again for our justification,” thus begettingunto 
himself a peculiar people to “ make known the 
riches of His glory,” “ to the intent that unto 
the principalities and powers in the heaven- 
lies might be known by the Church the mani¬ 
fold wisdom of God,” “to the praise of His 
glory.” But this again is what we had in the 
sign of Capricornus ! 

Jared means the descending, the coming 
down, as the Holy Ghost shed forth to quick¬ 
en and energize humanity, according to the 


376 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

promise. But this was the showing which we 
had in Aquarius ! 

Enoch means consecrated, initiated, taught, 
trained, and this is what characterizes the 
Church of all ages. To that of old time and 
to that of our dispensation it could equally be 
said: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal 
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, 
that ye should show forth the praises of Him 
who hath called you out of darkness into His 
marvellous light” (i Pet. 2: 9). But this is 
the very subject of the sign of Pisces! 

Methuselah means released from death. So 
Christ appeared to John in the visions of the 
Apocalypse as the Lamb standing in the midst 
of the throne, marked as having been slain, 
but invested with the perfection of power, wis¬ 
dom, and divine endowment, and having also 
the keys of Death and of Hades to release 
and bring forth all His people to the same 
heavenly life. But this, again, is the very 
presentation made in the sign of Aries! 

Lamech means the strong, the mighty, the 
wild and invincible overthrower. And so 
Christ is to come “travelling in the greatness 
of His strength,” “ with power and great 
glory,” to execute judgment upon the Enemy, 
to make the apostate nations drink the cup of 


THE PRIMEVAL PATRIARCHS. 2)77 

His indignation, and to tread the winepress 
of the wrath of Almighty God, till the moun¬ 
tains are melted with blood. But this is the 
exact presentation which we had in the sign 
of Taurus ! 

Noah means rest. And so there remaineth 
a rest for the people of God after the wicked 
are destroyed—a calm repose with our Re¬ 
deemer when we reach the farther shore of 
the boisterous sea of this world—an everlast¬ 
ing union with the Lord as His bride and wife. 
But this is the very theme of the sign of Gem¬ 
ini ! 

This exhausts ten signs of the Zodiac in 
their order; and if we would have names sim¬ 
ilarly answering to the remaining two, Shem 
and Arphaxad, in whom the line of the prom¬ 
ised Messiah was continued after Noah, may 
serve to furnish them. 

Shem means name , renown , the standard of 
empire, the symbol of an established kingdom; 
just as is predicted of the glorious kingdom 
to be given to the saints. But this is the sub¬ 
ject given in the sign of Cancer! And Ar¬ 
phaxad means the strength, the stronghold 
of the assembly; which again is the import 
of the sign of Leo ! 

It is marvellous that things should be so; 


378 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

but here are the facts, and they could by no 
possibility have been what they are by mere 
accident. There must needs have been great 
intelligence thus to fit what we might call ac¬ 
cidents of earth with such elaborations of signs 
in the heavens, to utter and record in both the 
full-length evangelic story. Nor could that in¬ 
telligence have achieved such a work unhelped 
by the Spirit of Him who alone knows the end 
of all things from the beginning. 

The Twelve Tribes of Israel. 

Likewise in the names of Jacob’s sons in 
his prophetic blessings on them (Gen. 49), 
in the corresponding song of Moses on the 
several tribes of Israel (Deut. 33), on the 
banners borne by these tribes in their march 
through the wilderness from Egypt to Ca¬ 
naan, and in the jewels of the breastplate of 
their officiating high priest, do we again find 
distinct correspondence to the celestial signs, 
just as I have been identifying and describing 
them. I may not enter now upon the full 
showing in these instances. I state only a 
few elements of the presentation. 

Zebulon means dwelling, the choosing and 
entering upon a home. Jacob blessed Zebu- 
Ion as to dwell at the seas as a haven for the 


THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. 379 

ships. Moses sung of his joyful going forth. 
His jewel representative was Bareketh , glit¬ 
tering , bright. So Christ is the brightness of 
the Father’s glory, who, when He entered 
upon His ministry of light and salvation, se¬ 
lected Zebulon as its home-centre, and on 
those shores opened out His brightness, so 
that the land of Zebulon beheld a great light 
come to dwell there as Lord and Saviour. 
But all this is in thorough correspondence 
with what hung prophetic in the sky in the 
sign of Virgo. 

The next succeeding sign did not appear 
on any of the standards of Israel, for Levi 
had no separate banner. The sanctuary it¬ 
self was Levi’s ensign. His business was to 
take care of that, and there to offer sacrifices 
for the people’s sins. But all the more ex¬ 
pressively did he thus bear aloft the showing 
of redemption’s price, just as we found it sig¬ 
nalized in Libra. He kept the balances of 
the sanctuary. 

Dan means judge, administering as a judge. 
Jacob describes him as judging and punishing, 
and as a serpent and adder by the way that 
biteth the horses’ heels. Moses refers to him 
as a lion’s whelp, leaping from Bashan. His 
emblem was the serpent, and the whole de- 


380 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

scription concerning him answers to Scorpio , 
which was the place assigned him in the Jew¬ 
ish Zodiac. 

In the same way Asher answers to Sagitta¬ 
rius. His jewel representative is called Sho- 
ham , the lively, the strong, and his name 
means the blessed, the happy, the triumphant 
going forth. Moses speaks of him as ap¬ 
proved and prospered, dipping his foot in oil, 
wearing shoes of iron and brass, and riding 
forth in the strength of the God of Jeshurun, 
precisely as the picture is in Sagittarius. 

Naphtali is “a hind,” a wrestler with death, 
let go to drop and die, but filled with favor 
and blessing nevertheless; falling, yet joy¬ 
fully bringing forth abundant new life and 
gladness by his “ goodly wordswhich is 
the showing in Capricornus. 

Reuben in like manner corresponds to Aqua¬ 
rius. His name means Behold a son , new be¬ 
ing. Jacob speaks of him as the beginning 
of strength and excellence, going on to excel 
as water flows. His jewel was Nophek , the 
pouring forth , as water and light. 

Simeon means hearing and obeying. Jacob 
associates Levi with him, signifying the united, 
joined together, bound; and Moses assigns 
them the blessing of the prophetic lights and 


THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. 381 

perfections; all of which answers to the 
Church as pictured in the sign of Pisces. 

So Gad is Aries. The name means the 
seer , as the Lamb has “ seven eyes.” He is 
pierced, but overcomes at the last. He is 
blessed, seated as a lawgiver, dwelling as a 
lion. His jewel was the diamond , cutting and 
breaking, as well as shining. With the heads 
of the people he executes the justice and 
judgments of the Lord with Israel—that is, 
with the Church. All of which is precisely 
the showing in the sign of Aries. 

Joseph is Taurus , the reem. Ephraim and 
Manasseh are his two great horns, pushing 
the people to the ends of the earth. The 
arms of his hands are made strong by the 
mighty God of Jacob. His glory is like the 
firstlings of the herd. His jewel-sign signi¬ 
fies tongues of fire. The two pictures are 
exactly identical. 

Benjamin is Gemini. He had two names, 
as Gemini has two figures—Benjamin, son of 
the right hand\ and Benoni, son of my sorrow , 
which together describe Christ and the Church 
He has “ begotten by His sorrows.” Both 
are the beloved of the Lord, the latter dwell¬ 
ing between the shoulders of the other, shel¬ 
tered and blessed by Jehovah all the daylong, 


382 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

in the morning devouring the prey like a 
ravening wolf, and in the evening dividing 
the spoils. 

Issachar means recompense. His jewel rep¬ 
resentative is Pitdak , reward. Jacob speaks 
of him as a strong ass resting between the 
burdens of treasure. He sees his resting- 
place that it is good. Moses describes him 
as rejoicing in his tents, to whose mountains 
the people come with sacrifices of righteous¬ 
ness, and to suck the abundance of the seas 
and the yet hidden treasures on the shore. 
All these presentations answer throughout 
to Cancer. 

And in all the given particulars Judah is 
Leo. His name means the praise and glory 
and majesty of God. His banner bore the 
sign of the rampant lion. His jewel repre¬ 
sentative was the ruby , the symbol of blood- 
shedding unto victory. And Jacob describes 
him as the lion , the tearer in pieces, the glo¬ 
rious victor, the same as exhibited in the sign 
of Leo. 


The New Jerusalem. 

And when we come to the New Testament 
we not only find the images of the constella¬ 
tions repeatedly employed in the same sense 


THE NEW JERLSALEM. 


383 


and application as in our interpretations of 
the signs, but also systematically placed to¬ 
gether, if not in the twelve Apostles of the 
Lamb, yet in the twelve jewels which make 
up the foundations of the New Jerusalem, 
in which are the names of those Apostles. 
I am not sufficient master of the lore re¬ 
specting precious stones to verify all the 
particulars involved, but, availing myself of 
several lists which claim to give the facts, I 
find the reading here just as distinct and 
marvellous as anywhere else. 

The Apostle says, “The first foundation 
was jasper ,” which he describes as “ a stone 
most precious,” bright and clear. This re¬ 
minds us at once of Spica , the bright and 
precious Seed of the woman. The meaning 
of jasper is said to be coming to bruise and 
be bruised —the same story of the coming of 
the precious Seed of the woman as set forth 
in Virgo. 

“ The second, sapphire ,” which means num¬ 
ber , the count of price and weight; which is 
Libra. 

“ The third, chalcedony ,” which means afflic¬ 
tion, torture; and this is the showing in 
Scorpio. 

“ The fourth, emeraldj which means defend ■ 


384 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


ing , keeping as a mighty protector; and this 
is the picture in Sagittarius. 

“The fifth, sardonyx” which means the 
Prince smitten; the same as in Capricornus. 

“ The sixth, sardiusd which means the power 
issuing forth ; and so is the parallel of Aqua¬ 
rius. 

“ The seventh, chrysolite ,” which means He 
who binds, who holds with bands , the bound to¬ 
gether ; and this answers to Pisces. 

“The eighth, beryld which means the Son, 
the first-born, the exalted Head; correspond¬ 
ing precisely with the sign of Aries. 

“The ninth, topazd the distinguished gem 
of Ethiopia, which signifies dashing in pieces ; 
as we saw in Taurus. 

“The tenth, chrysoprasusd nearly the same 
as chrysolite, meaning they who are united; 
which is Gemini. 

“The eleventh, jacinthd which means pos¬ 
sessing, He shall possess; just as we saw in 
Cancer. 

“The twelfth, amethystd which means He 
that destroys, destroyer of the destroyer; 
which is Leo. 

Now, if we should set ourselves with all the 
genius and thought we can by any means 
command, could we possibly express more 


THE NEW JERUSALEM. 385 

clearly or fully by twelve stones the charac¬ 
teristics of the twelve signs of the Zodiac, as 
I have explained them in these Lectures , than 
we thus find them set forth by these twelve 
jewels of the foundation of the New Jerusa¬ 
lem? Nay, upon what else could the golden 
and eternal home of God’s redeemed ones be 
built but on these precious jewels of the per¬ 
son, the character, the offices, the work, and 
the achievements of that illustrious Seed of 
the woman in whom standeth our salvation ? 
It is wonder on wonder that these precious 
stones are there, with just this significance ; 
but, having this significance, and epitomizing 
as they do the whole redemption-history from 
first to last, I should wonder all the more if 
this architectural picture of the eternal home 
and blessedness of the saints did not contain 
them as its foundation. And being there, in 
the precise order, and in full recognition of 
the precise imagery and symbolic import, of 
the twelve signs of the circling year of time, 
they give the stamp and seal of the final rev¬ 
elation of the sublime and finished result of 
all that fills the perturbed ages of this world 
to the reality of what I have been seeking to 
show; to wit, that the mystic garniture of 
these heavens, which modern science in its 
z 


33 


336 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


vanity has chosen to regard as crude and 
grotesque scribbling, is verily a writing of 
God, indited by His Spirit from the beginning 
to hold up to the whole race of man, in all its 
branches and generations, what He has also 
caused to be recorded in the Word deposited 
with His own particular people touching the 
course and outcome of all His grand pur¬ 
poses in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Thus, then, has the great Almighty inscribed 
the works of Nature with the symbols and 
signs of His more precious works of grace, 
and shown us “ the secrets of wisdom, that 
they are double to that which is.” 

“ Wisdom ! that bright intelligence, which sat 
Supreme when, with His golden compasses, 

Th’ Eternal planned the fabric of the world, 

Produced His fair idea into light, 

And said that all was good ! Wisdom, blest beam! 

The brightness of the everlasting light! 

The spotless mirror of the power of God ! 

The reflex image of the all-perfect Mind! 

A stream translucent, flowing from the source 
Of glory infinite—a cloudless light!” 


liecturc Jrixtcnuf). 


PRIMEVAL MAN. 


Job 12:12: “ With the ancient is wisdom.” 



FTER what we have now seen of the 


iV presentations and connections of the 
ancient astronomy, the question of its origin 
becomes one of great interest and importance. 
Who framed this system ? Who first so accu¬ 
rately observed these features of Nature’s celes¬ 
tial economies, and so sublimely wove them to¬ 
gether into one great scheme, at once so true 
to fact and so full of prophetic and evangelic 
significance ? Whence has all this wisdom 
come ? Our investigations would be left in¬ 
complete if we did not now endeavor to gath¬ 
er together what information exists touching 
these inquiries. 

Astronomy is unquestionably one of the 
most ancient of the sciences. Its history runs 
back into an antiquity so remote and dim that 
the greatest of astronomers are unable to tell 
its source or beginning. Its existence is trace- 


387 


388 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

able in all known ages and among all nations, 
with all its main features settled and fixed 
from the most distant periods. Learned an¬ 
tiquarians of modern times have searched 
every page of heathen mythology, ransacked 
all the legends of poetry and fable, traversed 
all the religions, sciences, customs, and tra- 
ditions of every nation, tribe, and people, and 
used the best sources of historic information 
the earth affords, with a view to rescue the 
matter from the heavy mists hanging over it; 
but with no further success than to trace it 
back to certain Chaldean shepherds who lived 
in a very early period of the world ; but every¬ 
thing else concerning it and them is left un¬ 
discovered and untold. Had they first grasp¬ 
ed the real meaning and intent of these pri¬ 
meval inventions of astronomic science, or 
entertained an idea of its true connections, 
they doubtless would have been able to reach 
much more definite knowledge on the subject. 

The Facts Stated. 

We now have monumental evidence, in the 
Great Pyramid of Gizeh, that a very complete 
and sublime knowledge of the structure and 
economy of the visible universe, inclusive of 
a very exact astronomy, was by some means 


THE FACTS STATED. 


389 


known to the great architect of that unrivalled 
edifice, built twenty-one hundred and seventy 
years before the birth of Christ. It is also a 
matter of accredited record that when Alex¬ 
ander took Babylon, Calisthenes, the philos¬ 
opher who accompanied the expedition, found 
there certain astronomical observations made 
by the Chaldeans over nineteen hundred years 
before that time, which was over twenty-two 
hundred years before our era, and near to the 
great dispersion of mankind by the confusion 
of tongues. Cassini refers to Philo for the 
assertion that “Terah, the father of Abraham, 
who lived more than a hundred years with 
Noah, had much studied astronomy, and 
taught it to Abraham,” who, according to 
Josephus and others, taught it to the Egyp¬ 
tians during his sojourn in that country. It 
is well known that the religion of the ancient 
Babylonians and contiguous peoples, which 
consisted of the worship of the heavenly 
bodies, was based throughout on astronomy, 
astrology, and the starry configurations—so 
much so that one was an essential part of the 
other, and the two were really one. But it 
is now demonstrated, from the recovered re¬ 
mains of these ancient peoples, that the Chal¬ 
dean religion and mythology were already 
33 * 


39 ° the gospel in the stars. 

wrought out in a complete and finished sys¬ 
tem as early as two thousand years before 
the beginning of our era, so that* a settled 
astronomical science must necessarily have 
existed a considerable period prior to that 
date. 

The book of Job, so far as we can ascer¬ 
tain, is the oldest book now in the world ; and 
it is a book which, more than all other books 
of Holy Scripture, abounds in astronomical 
allusions. Distinct and unmistakable refer¬ 
ences are contained in it to the constellations 
as we still have them. We there read of 
“Arcturus with his sons,” “the sweet influ¬ 
ences of Pleiades ,” “ the bands of Orion” and 
“ the fleeing Serpent .” We there likewise read 
of “ MazzarothP with its “ seasons ”— stations , 
stopping-places —which, according to the mar¬ 
gin of our English Bible, the Jewish Targum, 
and the ablest Christian interpreters, is nothing 
more nor less than the Solar Zodiac. Astron¬ 
omy, even as we now have it, was therefore 
established and well understood in Job’s day. 
Nay, from the various astronomical references 
in the book different astronomers claim to be 
able to calculate the time in which Job lived, 
which they give as from b. c. 2100-2200. (See 
Miracle in Stone , pp. 203-206.) 


THE FACTS STATED. 


391 


On the faith of the Thebaic astronomers 
Ptolemy records an observation of the heliacal 
rising of Sirius on the fourth day after the 
summer solstice twenty-two hundred and fifty 
years before Christ, which could not have been 
made if there had not been among men a high 
degree of astronomical knowledge preceding 
that date. 

Dr. Seyffarth claims it as solid truth that in 
the distribution of the letters in the primitive 
alphabet, which was essentially the same in 
all nations, there is a record of the celestial 
presentations which can occur but once in 
millions of years, and which designates the 
year, month, and day when Noah came out 
of the ark. Our astronomy must therefore 
have existed in and before Noah’s time. 

From internal evidences in the particular 
framework and order of the Solar and Lunar 
Zodiacs, Bailly was thoroughly convinced of a 
state of the heavens at the time these Zodiacs 
were formed which can occur only at intervals 
of more than twenty-five thousand years, but 
which really did exist in and about four thou¬ 
sand years before the Christian era. Nouet, 
on similar grounds, came to the same conclu¬ 
sion. (See also Miracle in Stone , pp. 140 seq.) 

On the basis of astronomy’s own records, 


39 2 the gospel in the stars. 

apart from all other testimony, we are thus 
inevitably carried back to a period within 
the lifetime of Adam and his sons for the 
original of the Zodiac, and, with it, of the 
whole system of our astronomy. 

The Traditions. 

And to this agree the ancient sayings and 
worthiest traditions of the race. The best 
philosophers, the most honored poets, and 
the historians who have penetrated the deep¬ 
est into the beginnings of humanity unite in 
commencing man with God and in close and 
happy fellowship and communion with the 
Divine Intelligence. Everywhere throughout 
the world of primitive nations the first of 
men were the greatest of men, the wisest, 
the divinest, and the most worshipped; and 
the .first age was the Golden Age. 

Plato says : “ Our first parent was the great¬ 
est philosopher that ever existed.” Baleus 
says : “ From Adam all good arts and human 
wisdom flowed, as from their fountain. He 
was the first that discovered the motions of the 
celestial bodies , and all other creatures. From 
his school proceeded whatever good arts and 
wisdom were afterward propagated by our 
fathers unto mankind; so that whatever as- 


THE TRADITIONS. 


393 


tronomy, geometry, and other arts contain in 
them, he knew the whole thereof.” Kecker- 
man doubts not that “ our first parents deliv¬ 
ered over to their posterity, together with 
other sciences, even logic also; specially see¬ 
ing they who were nearest the origin of all 
things had an intellect so much the more ex¬ 
cellent than ours by how much the more they 
excelled us in length of life, firmitude of 
health, and in air and food.” 

We learn from Medhurst that “ in the early 
Chinese histories the first man, named Pwan- 
roo , is said to have been produced soon after 
the period of emptiness and confusion, and 
that he knew intuitively the relative propor¬ 
tions of heaven and earth, with the principles 
of creation and transmutation.” The Ven- 
didad of the Parsis affirms that God con¬ 
versed with Yima, the great shepherd, the 
first man, and taught him all the law of Na¬ 
ture and religion. Moreri gives it as the 
settled tradition that “ Adam had a perfect 
knowledge of sciences, and chiefly of what 
related to the stars, which he taught his chil¬ 
dren.” 

The Jews hold it among their traditions that 
Adam wrote a book concerning the creation 
of the world, and another on the Deity. 


394 the gospel in the stars. 

Kissaeus, an Arabian writer, gives it as among 
the teachings of his people that Abraham had 
in his possession certain sacred writings of 
Adam, Seth, and Enoch, in which were “ laws 
and promises, threatenings from God, and 
predictions of many events and it is af¬ 
firmed of Abraham that he taught astron¬ 
omy to the Egyptian priests at Heliopolis. 

From the ancient fragments of Berosus, 
Polyhistor, and Sanchoniathon, as well as 
from the lately-recovered Assyrian tablets, 
we learn of the existence of sacred records 
which had descended from knowing men of 
the earliest times, who taught the world all 
the wisdom it had, and on whose instructions 
and institutes none were able to improve, but 
from which there was a constant tendency to 
apostatize. 

The ancient Egyptians called all their kings 
Pharaoh , the Sun , but their traditions make 
Menes, the first of their kings, the greatest 
sun, from whom all wisdom and illumination 
came to them. And Menes was a very near 
descendant of Noah, through whom the pri¬ 
meval wisdom was brought over from beyond 
the Flood, and hence from the first fathers of 
the race. 

From Adam sprang Seth, who, according 


THE TRADITIONS . 


395 


to Josephus and more ancient records, fol¬ 
lowed his father in the pursuit of wisdom, as 
did also his own descendants. It is said in 
so many words that “ they were the inventors 
of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is con¬ 
cerned with the heavenly bodies and their 
ndOrj xai <ju fmzco t fiaza — condition and indications .” 
Hornius says : “ The first mention of letters 
falls upon Seth’s times ; who, being mindful 
of his father’s prophecy foretelling the uni¬ 
versal dissolution of things, the one by the 
Deluge, and the other by fire, being not un¬ 
willing to extinguish his famous inventions 
concerning the stars, he thought of some 
monument to which he might concredit these 
mysteries.” 

Enoch is also specially credited with spe¬ 
cial wisdom and writing, particularly as relat¬ 
ing to astronomy and prophecy. Bochart 
writes: “ I cannot but add what is found con¬ 
cerning the same Enoch in Eusebius, out of 
Eupolemus, of the Jews. He says that Abra¬ 
ham, when he taught astrology [astronomy] 
and other sciences at Heliopolis, affirmed 
that the Babylonians attributed the invention 
of the same to Enoch; and that the Grecians 
attribute the invention to Atlas , the same 
with Enoch.” Macinus, Abulfaragius, and 


396 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

other Arab writers say that Enoch was called 
Bdrisy the sage, the illustrious, and that he 
was skilled in astronomy and other sciences. 
Baleus tells us that he was famous for proph¬ 
ecy, and is reported as having written books 
on divine matters. The Jews call him the 
Great Scribe, and say that he wrote books 
on sacred wisdom, especially on astronomy. 
That he did record certain prophecies is at¬ 
tested by the Epistle of Jude, which gives a 
quotation from him. Origen also tells us 
that it was asserted in the book of Enoch 
that in the time of that patriarch the con¬ 
stellations were already named and divided. 
Arab and Egyptian authors make him the 
same as the older Hermes—Hermes Tris- 
megistus, the triply-great Shepherd—through 
whom the wisdom of the stars and other sci¬ 
ences were handed down to his posterity. 

It was the remark of Gale on these and 
such-like traditions and fragments : “We need 
no way doubt but that Noah had been fully 
instructed by Church-tradition from his godly 
predecessors, Methuselah, Enoch, and Seth, 
touching the creation of the world by God, 
and particularly touching the excellent fabric 
of the heavens, the nature of those celestial 
bodies, their harmonious motion and order— 


THE TRADITIONS. 


39 7 


that these celestial had a mighty influence on 
• all sublunary bodies, etc. These and such¬ 
like considerations, which greatly conduced 
to the enhancing of the wisdom, power, and 
goodness of God, we may not doubt were 
very frequent in the mouths of those sons 
of God before and after the Flood. And it 
is the opinion of some that the whole story of 
the creation written by Moses was conveyed 
down even from Adam to his time by a con¬ 
stant, uninterrupted tradition to the holy seed 
and Church in all ages.” 

Eugubinus, treating of the succession of 
doctrine from the world’s beginning, says: 
“ As there is one Principle of things, so also 
there has been one and the same science of 
Him at all times amongst all, as both reason 
and monuments of many nations and letters 
testify. This science, springing partly from 
the first origin of men, has been devolved 
through all ages unto posterity. The most 
true supputation of times proves that Methu¬ 
selah lived and might converse with Adam, as 
Noah with Methuselah. Therefore Noah saw 
and heard things before the Flood. More¬ 
over, before Noah died Abraham was fifty 
years old. Neither may we conceive that this 
most pious man and his holy seed would con- 
34 


39^ THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ceal things of so great moment and so worthy 
to be known and remembered. Therefore 
from this most true cause it is most equal that 
the great science of divine and human affairs 
should be deduced unto following ages, though 
greatly overcome by barbarism, etc. . . . 
Therefore, that there has been one and the 
same wisdom always in all men we endeavor 
to persuade, not only by these reasons, but 
also by those many and great examples 
whereby we behold some vestiges of the 
truth scattered throughout all nations. Abra¬ 
ham was a Chaldean in whose family the an¬ 
cient theology and the traditions of the fathers, 
whereof he was heir, remained. All these 
things being retained by Noah and his sons 
—whence also flowed the piety and wisdom 
of Job—were seen and heard by Abraham, 
and so passed unto his posterity” (quoted 
by Gale). 


Bible Representations 
According to the Scriptures, Adam lived 
about seven hundred years contemporaneous¬ 
ly with his son Seth, and about three hundred 
years contemporaneously with Enoch, and died 
only about one hundred years before Noah was 
born. All these were holy prophets. From 


BIBLE REPRESENTATIONS. 2)99 

Luke (i : 69, 70) and Acts (3 : 21) we learn 
that there were inspired divine teachers “ from 
the foundation of the world ”—“ since the 
world began.” Whoever may be included in 
the list, Adam, Seth, and Enoch were by far 
the greatest and the most illustrious of them. 

Adam from the first was in perfect fellow¬ 
ship with the Divine Intelligence, and knew 
all things that came before him by an intuitive 
divine insight into their whole nature and in¬ 
tention. He needed no instructors, for the 
light of God shone clear and unclouded upon 
his soul. His whole being was in most thor¬ 
ough accord with God and with the mind of 
God, for he was the complete image of God. 
His wisdom and knowledge were necessarily 
higher by far than that of any other mere man 
that ever lived. Even Peter Bayle agrees 
that it is not contrary to the analogy of faith 
nor to probability, and very proper to the 
narrative in Genesis, to believe that Adam 
came out of the hands of his Creator indued 
with innate science, and that he did not lose 
it by sin ; as the bad angels are not less know¬ 
ing since their fall, and as crimes of learned 
persons do not deprive them of that knowledge 
they enjoyed before. He also passes it as de¬ 
termined that the speculative understanding 


400 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

of the first man was endowed with all the 
philosophical and mathematical knowledge of 
which human nature is naturally capable. 

Gale gives it as made out from the Mosaic 
record that Adam without all peradventure 
was the greatest amongst mere mortals that 
ever the world possessed, exactly prying into 
the very natures of things, and there contem¬ 
plating those glorious ideas and characters of 
created light and order which the increated 
Light and Divine Wisdom had impressed 
thereon; and thence he could immediately 
collect and form the same into a complete 
system and body of philosophy, as also most 
methodically branch forth the same into the 
particular sciences. Hornius argues that 
“Adam, being constituted in this theatre of 
the universe, was ignorant of nothing that 
pertained to the mystery of Nature.” 

It is also a matter of inspired record that 
God gave to Adam special revelations. Af¬ 
ter his fall Jehovah made known to him His 
purposes concerning the Serpent and its seed 
and the woman and her Seed. The whole 
Gospel revelation and promise was therein 
included, and was given to him, not for him¬ 
self alone, but to be made known to all his 
posterity as the great and only hope of man. 


BIBLE REPRESENTATIONS. 401 

What Adam knew, Seth would thus also 
know, and so would Enoch. And living con¬ 
temporaneously together for more than two, 
three, or five ordinary lifetimes, there was the 
sublimest opportunity for them to observe, 
construct, and mature just such a system as 
astronomy presents, inwoven as it is with all 
the great facts, features, and hopes embraced 
in the promised redemption by the Seed of 
the woman. In fact, it was the one great and 
only opportunity in the history of our race 
for such an accomplishment. 

We know from Luke and Acts that every 
one of these primeval prophets did speak 
and prophesy of the raising up of “ an Horn 
of salvation for us,” the coming of Christ to 
suffer, to bring times of refreshing from the 
presence of the Lord, and eventually to work 
“ the restitution of all things.” (Compare 
Luke 1 167-79; Acts 3:18-26; Jude 15.) 
The Bible tells us especially of Enoch’s pre¬ 
eminent intimacy and life-communion with 
God, and recites certain of his predictions 
which run on the precise theme we have 
been reading from the constellations. 

And what Adam and his believing children 
did not know simply as men, they would still 
know as prophets, which they certainly were. 

34 * 2 A 


402 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


Reasonableness of the Case. 

Going back, then, to that period of the 
world to which we must needs go for the 
origin of astronomy and the first fixing of 
its great foundation-elements, we find there 
the men duly capacitated for the work, duly 
supplied with motive and opportunity to do 
it, and such real prophets of God that in en¬ 
tering upon it from sacred impulse they would 
not fail of divine help in the matter, or of 
preservation from all mistake. Under God, 
they were the great founders of the world, 
and were fully alive to the fact. They were 
the great appointed teachers of the world 
from the very nature of the case. They were 
the first great prophets of the world, the 
original recipients of the revelation of God’s 
purposes of redemption through the prom¬ 
ised Seed of the woman, and as such were 
under bonds to make known the facts, ex¬ 
plain their import, and use every means of 
recording and transmitting to all men the 
knowledge of them. They lived nearly a 
thousand years, and so had ample time for 
observation, study, and thorough elaboration 
to bring the work to finished perfection be¬ 
fore being required to leave it. And over 


REASONABLENESS OF THE CASE. 403 

them were the virgin stars, only waiting to 
be named and grouped, and hung with the 
records and symbols of the precious treas¬ 
ures of promise and prophecy on which the 
world’s hopes depended, that they might be¬ 
come the everlasting witnesses to men of the 
God-given faith and hopes which shone in the 
serene imaginations of these great grand fa¬ 
thers of all sacred prophets. Nor can I see 
why a single shade of doubt should linger in 
our minds that these verily were the men who 
drew these celestial hieroglyphics, named and 
grouped the stars, laid out the Zodiacs and 
their signs, and made the heavens a picture- 
gallery for all the world, the first and great¬ 
est that ever was made, that there mankind 
might gaze and read the wondrous story of 
the promised Redeemer, the redemption, and 
the redeemed. 

And this, and this only, will account for the 
sacred reverence in which all the ancient peo¬ 
ples held these starry emblems, and even fell 
to worshipping them and ascribing to them 
all sorts of divine and prophetic virtues. If 
put there by inspired prophets, and explained 
by them as the symbols of the divinest things 
of God’s revelation and promises, then can 
we understand why they were so much made 


404 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

of in the sacred mysteries, why they were so 
seriously consulted as horoscopes, and why 
the early nations lapsed into the idolatry of 
worshipping them as gods. They are of ho¬ 
liest origin, and relate to the dearest hopes 
and anticipations of man ; therefore have 
they been so prized in all the ages, and there¬ 
fore the Perverter of all good set himself to 
turn them to evil, for which he could have 
found neither hold nor leverage had not some 
great and commanding sacredness gone be¬ 
fore to seat them in the esteem of men. 

Claimed to be from God. 

It was also the common and accepted doc¬ 
trine of antiquity that the constellations were 
divine in origin and sacred in character. They 
are woven in with all the old ethnic religions. 
Much as heathenism has perverted them to 
false worship, it has ever held to the belief 
that they are from God—manifestations of the 
one supreme and eternal Deity. Even Pluche 
agrees that all heathenism is “ nothing but the 
religion of the patriarchs corrupted by extrav¬ 
agant additions, transforming the signs, or the 
symbolic men and animals, into so many gods, 
with which their imagination peopled the 
heaven.” But this assumes and implies that 


CLAIMED TO BE FROM GOD. 405 

these signs in the hands of the patriarchs 
themselves were connected with their relig¬ 
ion ; and their religion being divine, so must 
these signs connected with it have been. 

The Greek Sallustius treats of the myths 
and the constellations as undoubtedly of di¬ 
vine origin, and represents the chief poets 
through whom they came as prophets —per¬ 
sons to whom Deity was propitious, and who 
were really dsoXrjxrot — divinely-inspired men. 

The Roman Cicero affirms that these things 
were explained in the sacred mysteries as part 
of a divine instruction how to live in peace 
and die in hope, and hence as from God him¬ 
self. 

Maimonides states that the old Jewish fa¬ 
thers considered and held these signs in the 
heavens to be of divine original. 

Josephus and the Arabian authors give it 
as a matter of historic truth that the primeval 
prophets invented these signs. 

Gale lays it down as quite certain that “ the 
first human institutors or authors of philoso¬ 
phy were indeed divinely illuminated ; so that 
the wisdom we find scattered up and down 
among the pagan philosophers was but bor¬ 
rowed and derived from those divine lights 
who were enlightened by the Divine Word— 


406 the gospel in the stars. 

that Life and Light of men which shined in the 
darkness.” He also adds that “ both Alber- 
tus and Sixtus Senensis collect that our Sa¬ 
viour was in some manner adumbrated in the 
Gentile fables and figures,” implying that they 
certainly were originally from the Spirit of 
prophecy. 

The sacred Bundahis of the Parsis giv^s 
an account of the formation of the Solar and 
Lunar Zodiacs, and mentions by name the 
twelve signs of the one, almost entirely as 
we now have them, and the twenty-eight di¬ 
visions of the other, together with their Zend 
names, and asserts and claims that both, to¬ 
gether with the assignment of the stars to 
each, were the work of Auharmazd\ the Cre¬ 
ator, “ supreme in omniscience and goodness 
and unrivalled in glory;” and says that such 
was the teaching of Zorathost, the great tra¬ 
ditional prophet of God. 

The same is asserted and claimed in the 
Chaldean tablets of late recovered from the 
ruins of ancient Assyria and Babylon. Frag¬ 
ments of a whole library of books written on 
tiles or tablets of pottery, now in the British 
Museum, have been brought to light, and 
their cuneiform records deciphered. Among 
them is a poetic legend of Izdubar , supposed 


CLAIMED TO BE FROM GOD. 407 

to be the same as Nimrod, which is framed 
throughout to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, 
proving that the Zodiac existed and was most 
highly prized when that legend was written, 
certainly not less than two thousand years 
before Christ. 

But more important than this is a series on 
the six days of the Creation, called “ the Chal¬ 
dean Genesis,” almost the same in substance 
with the Mosaic account, and certainly dating 
beyond two thousand years before the Chris¬ 
tian era. Smith and Sayce state concerning 
this series that “ the fifth tablet relates how 
God created the constelldtions of the stars , the 
signs of the Zodiac , the planets and other 
stars, the moon and the sun.” The whole 
record runs thus: 

“ Anu [the supreme and ever-living God] 
made suitable the mansions of the (seven) 
great gods. [The signs of the Zodiac were 
always considered by the heathen nations the 
Mansions, stations, or resting-places of the 
seven planets, deemed the great gods.] The 
stars He placed in them. The lumasi ’ their 
animal appearance [figures], He fixed. He 
arranged the year according to the bounds, 
the limits [of the Zodiac], which He defined . 
For each of the twelve months three stars, 


408 the gospel in the stars. 

or rows of stars [Decans], He fixed. From 
the day when the year issues forth unto the 
close He marked the mansions [Zodiacal sta¬ 
tions] of the wandering stars (planets), to 
know their courses, that they might not err 
or deflect at all.” 

There can be no question of the reference 
in this extract to the Zodiac, its twelve signs, 
and the system of the constellations in gen¬ 
eral, including their figures. It answers to 
the declaration in Genesis that God placed 
the starry lights in the firmament, and said, 
“ Let them be for signs.” And the remarkable 
point in the case is,' that it was the sacred 
opinion and settled belief of those who orig¬ 
inally composed what these tablets record 
that the Zodiac, with its twelve signs, and the 
three extra rows of the constellations and the 
pictures designating them, were all the work 
of Almighty God himself by inspiration, im¬ 
pulse, and direction of His Spirit. It is in¬ 
deed nothing more than we read out of Job, 
who wrote about the same period or a little 
earlier; but it is as if old Babylonia had risen 
up from its grave of ages to corroborate and 
attest the meaning which we took from the 
patriarch of Uz, where he gives it as part of 
Jehovah’s glory that “by His Spirit He gar- 


CLAIMED TO BE FROM GOD. 


409 


nished the heavens,” and that “ His hand 
hath formed the fleeing Serpent,” and hence 
all these celestial emblems (Job 26: 13).* 

* The ordinary explanations of the origin of these ancient pictures 
extend very little further than the Zodiac; but even as to that our 
men of science have nothing to give save a few jejune imaginings, 
lame and absurd in themselves, and without the slightest show of 
fact on which to lean. 

It is said that herdsmen used to take great delight in their sheep 
and cattle as they led them forth in spring-time, and in the mating 
and nesting of the birds as the summer drew on, and so they gave 
the signs of a Ram, a Bull, and two entwined youths to the months 
of March, April, and May! Men saw, we are told, that toward the 
end of June the sun began to come down from the north toward the 
south, which for some unknown reason they likened to a backward 
movement, and so gave that month the sign of the Crab, because the 
crab is apt to move backward! The heat in July became fierce, and 
then, we are assured, the lions used to come to the river to quench 
their thirst, and so that month obtained the sign of the Lion ! Then 
in August, it is supposed, the people began to harvest or to sow 
their fields, and so they gave that month the sign of a prostrate 
young woman with sprigs of wheat in one hand and a branch in the 
other! In September, it is said, they found the days and nights near¬ 
ly equal, so they drew for that month the sign of the Scales, though 
the same thing in March had no sign, and these equal balances, un¬ 
fortunately for the myth, have one side up and the other down! 
October, it is said, was plentiful in fruits, and many people got sick, 
so they marked that month with the sign of the Scorpion ! Novem¬ 
ber, it is said, was the month for hunting, and so they marked it 
with the sign of a Horseman with bow and arrow. In December, 
we are told, people noticed the sun again ascending toward the 
north, and so they marked that month with the sign of a Goat, be¬ 
cause goats like to climb rocks! January was found to be a wet 
and dreary month, so they gave it the sign of the Waterman ! And 
in February we are told that people went a-fishing, and so that month 
received the sign of the two Fishes! This is the philosophy of the 
twelve signs as given in our books of science. 

But then how came these signs to be the same in all parts of the 
earth in all the ages through ? And how comes it that there is not 
35 


4io 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


The Star-Record Itself. 

And the story which these astronomic signs 
and pictures tell is in all respects so worthy 
of a divine origin, and so much above man’s 
science, that we may well consider the whole 
thing divine. It is precisely the same that we 
find in the Word, about whose divine source 
we have no question. And if it was a fitting 
thing for the great Lord of all to employ His 
Spirit to cause these matters of salvation to 
be authentically recorded in the books com¬ 
mitted to His later peoples, why was it not 
equally befitting His gracious almightiness 


a country under the sun where these interpretations all fit ? And 
how did men know to name these months or to place these figures if 
the sphere had not been previously defined and fixed ? And what 
of the thirty-six remaining constellations and their equally conspicu¬ 
ous figures ? Where did they all come from, and what do they mean ? 
The Greek myths on the subject are out of the question here. These 
extra-Zodiacal constellations are as old as the Zodiac itself, and 
everywhere, in the earliest records as in the latest, appear along with 
it. And what of the names of the stars, which, for the most part, 
are as old as the signs, but tell quite another story from anything that 
men have thus given as the rationale of these celestial hieroglyphics ? 
And then, again, how did it happen that the people who thus fanci¬ 
fully characterized the months immediately wheeled about and began 
to consult as oracles and to worship as great divinities the very fig¬ 
ures which they had themselves hung up? Such philosophy will 
not hold together. It is simply amazing that learned men should 
have the face to put it forth for rational acceptance. It is so purely 
fanciful, so feeble, and so manifestly untrue, that it needed no Mon- 
tucla to demolish it utterly. 


THE STAR-RECORD ITSELF. 4II 

to do the same in the case of His primeval 
prophets, that all mankind in all the ages 
might ever have before their eyes the abiding 
testimony of His pristine revelations concern¬ 
ing that same Messiah “ of whom Moses, in 
the Law and the Prophets did write”? 

And what if the key to the showings was 
afterward lost, and men only misread and per¬ 
verted what was so sublimely recorded ? The 
same has occurred again and again with the 
scriptural records; and why should the apos¬ 
tasies in the one case argue differently from 
what they do in the other ? The failures and 
sins of men do not unmake the truth of God, 
neither do their misuses and perversions of 
His gifts disprove their divine source or good 
intent. The turning of Israel’s calling and 
sacred institutes into a hypocritical, murder¬ 
ous, and depraved Pharisaism, which killed 
the Son of God and slew His holy Apostles, 
did not unmake the divine legation of Mo¬ 
ses nor the heavenly inspiration of the holy 
prophets who spent their lives building Israel 
into a kingdom for the Lord. The perver¬ 
sion of Christianity into an imperial pope¬ 
dom, an Antichrist, and a tyrannous perse¬ 
cution of the saints of God by His own al¬ 
leged vicegerent did not prove Jesus of Naz- 


412 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

areth an impostor nor the testimony of His 
Apostles undivine or untrue. And if men 
in like manner have perverted these primeval 
records in the stars, and turned the showings 
of^promised salvation into an instrument of 
damning superstition, and twisted a divine 
astronomy into a devilish astrology, and de¬ 
veloped a bloody paganism out of a primitive 
evangelism, what is it else than the depravity 
of man and the trick of the great Deceiver 
belying God, but by no means discrediting or 
unmaking the divinity, the mercifulness, or 
the gracious ampleness of good intent in the 
sublime original ? 

Volney insists, and with good reason, that 
everywhere in antiquity there was a cherish¬ 
ed tradition of an expected Conqueror of the 
Serpent, who was to come as a divine person, 
born of a woman; and that this tradition is 
most clearly reflected in the constellations 
and in all the heathen mythologies through¬ 
out the world. Dupuis has collected numer¬ 
ous ancient authorities, abundantly proving 
that in all nations this tradition, with singular 
particularity of details, always prevailed ; that 
this divine Person, born of a woman, was to 
be a great sufferer in His conflict with the 
Serpent, but would triumph gloriously at the 


THE STAR-RECORD ITSELF. 413 

last; and that this tradition is represented 
and recorded in the constellations. 

By a world-wide testimony we are thus as¬ 
sured that this is verily the inwoven mystic 
essence of the primeval astronomy, the same 
that constitutes the essence of all that is writ¬ 
ten by inspiration in the books of the Bible. 

And to the external testimony the internal 
substance and conditions correspond. In three 
grand parts or books, each with four grand 
chapters, and each chapter divided into four 
distinct sections, is this record given. Set out 
in brief, the contents would run thus: 

BOOK FIRST—THE REDEEMER PROMISED. 
Chapter First—Virgo: 

1. The Seed of the woman ; 

2. The Desire of nations ; 

3. The Man of double nature in humil¬ 

iation ; 

4. The exalted Shepherd and Harvester. 

Chapter Second—Libra: 

1. Price to be paid ; 

2. The Cross endured; 

3. The Victim slain ; 

4. The Crown purchased. 


4 i4 the gospel in the stars. 

Chapter Third—Scorpio: 

1. Cleft in the conflict; 

2. The Serpent’s coils ; 

3. The struggle with the Enemy; 

4. The toiling Vanquisher of evil. 

Chapter Fourth—Sagittarius : 

1. The double-natured One triumphing as 

a Warrior; 

2. He gladdens the heavens ; 

3. He builds the fires of punishment; 

4. He casts down the Dragon. 

BOOK SECOND—THE REDEEMER’S PEOPLE. 
Chapter First—Capricornus : 

1. Life out of Death ; 

2. The Arrow of God ; 

3. Pierced and falling; 

4. Springing up again in abundant life. 

Chapter Second—Aquarius : 

1. Life-waters from on high; 

2. Drinking in the heavenly flood; 

3. Carrying and speeding the Good News ; 

4. Bearing aloft the Cross over all the 

earth. 


THE STAR-RECORD ITSELF. 


415 


Chapter Third—Pisces: 

1. Swimming in the heavenly waters ; 

2. Upheld and governed by the Lamb ; 

3. Head over all things to the Church; 

4. The intended Bride bound and exposed 

on earth. 


Chapter Fourth—Aries: 

1. The Lamb entered on dominion; 

2. The Bride released and making ready ; 

3. Satan bound ; 

4. The Breaker triumphing. 

BOOK THIRD—REDEMPTION COMPLETED. 
Chapter First—Taurus: 

1. The invincible Ruler come; 

2. The sublime Vanquisher ; 

3. The River of Judgment ; 

4. The all-ruling Shepherd. 

Chapter Second—Gemini : 

1. The Marriage of the Lamb; 

2. The Enemy trodden down ; 

3. The Prince coming in glory; 

4. His princely following. 


41 6 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Chapter Third—Cancer : 

1. The Possession secured; 

2. Lesser Fold, the first-born, the rulers; 

3. Greater Fold, the after-born ; 

4. The Heroes landed from their expedi¬ 

tion, their toils and trials over. 

Chapter Fourth—Leo: 

1. The King aroused for the rending; 

2. The Serpent fleeing; 

3. The Bowl of Wrath upon him; 

4. His carcass devoured. 

Here is a marked order and symmetry of 
construction, a thoroughness of digestion, an 
assortment of elements, an evenness of bal¬ 
ance, and an exhaustive comprehensiveness, 
not excelled by the highest inspired genius 
whose writings have come to us—an order 
befitting the God of order, and bearing in 
itself, in its three and fours, the expression 
of eternal Godhead moving and doing with 
reference to earth and man; whilst every 
topic in the twelve and twelve times three 
is a genuine Gospel topic, handled exactly as 
we find it in the writings of the Prophets and 
Apostles. There is nothing added and there 


INEVITABLE INFERENCES. 417 

is nothing left out. The whole story is com¬ 
plete—more complete than half the ministers 
in Christendom gan tell it to-day with the 
whole volume of both Testaments before 
them, and after all the prophesying and preach¬ 
ing and fulfilling that has occurred in the five 
thousand years and more since these star-pic¬ 
tures were made. 

Inevitable Inferences. 

“ What shall we say, then, to these things ?” 
Was primeval man a gorilla, a troglodyte, a 
brutish savage, a wild man without know¬ 
ledge ? The Zodiac and the constellations as 
arranged upon the ancient sphere furnish the 
foundations of all astronomy. No man since 
they were made has been able to improve 
upon them. All subsequent touches of them 
have been bungles and. absurdities. They 
stand to-day securely planted among the 
profoundest stabilities contained in human 
science. And yet the evidences are that they 
have come down to us from that selfsame 
primeval man. Then primeval man knew 
the visible starry heavens as well as any 
other man since. Then primeval man could 
draw maps, and make pictures, and write 
books, and teach wisdom, and transmit thought 


41 8 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

and intelligence, just as successfully as the re¬ 
moter progeny sprung from his blood. Then 
the doctrine that modern man is a mere ev¬ 
olution from savageism, the result of a self- 
moved activity to become, his makership his 
own, his intelligence a mere self-efflores¬ 
cence, is a lie. 

Our particular ancestors of two thousand 
years ago may have been but semi-civilized, 
having been long and remotely separated 
from the chief centres of population and en¬ 
lightenment, and so it may have been in part 
with the progenitors of the Greeks and Ro¬ 
mans ; but the agencies and influences by 
which they were lifted, and their descendants 
brought to the heights of which we boast too 
much, were not originated and evolved from 
among themselves, apart from what they got 
from the more knowing world outside. Egypt, 
Phoenicia, Arabia, Assyria, Chaldea, India, and 
China of the olden times never were savage 
or uncivilized. Government, society, law, arts, 
and sciences go back to the beginnings of 
their history, and from them all later peoples 
have learned. As far as we have any traces 
of man’s existence—and those traces go back 
as far as Adam—we have evidences of en¬ 
lightenment as high and as true to Nature 


INEVITABLE INFERENCES. 419 

and fact as anything we know, and which is 
to this day the very backbone of much of the 
world’s best and highest wisdom. The weight 
of the showing is, that primeval man was the 
truest model and representative of man, and 
that all human progress since, though upward 
in some things, has been in the main an un¬ 
ceasing deterioration. 

All the world that came next after primeval 
man honored, and even worshipped, their first 
fathers as very gods of light, knowledge, and 
greatness. They pushed their veneration to 
a base idolatry indeed, but there was reason 
and deserved gratitude at the bottom of it. 
The world now-a-days regards such reverence 
as a weakness and a fault, and has swung off 
into a far meaner and baser idolatry of self, 
glorying in its earth-born gaslight as the 
superlative illumination, and floundering like 
the dazed moth around the flickering smoke- 
flame, as if the sun in the heavens were not 
half so bright and beautiful. Could Adam 
and Seth and Enoch and Noah appear among 
us, and take an inventory of our prevailing 
philosophies, the ways in which modern think¬ 
ing practically runs, and the atheistic stuff 
which many would baptize with the name of 
wisdom, how would those venerable patriarchs 


420 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

sigh and lament and sicken over the degen¬ 
eration of their posterity! What if we have 
found out that a wire magnetized at one end 
is instantly magnetized at the other end also ? 
What if we have discovered that there is 
power in boiling water to push against con¬ 
finement, and so to drive pistons and turn 
wheels ? What if we have made up short¬ 
hand ways of putting lettering on paper and 
of multiplying impressions like autumn leaves ? 
What if we have succeeded in making war- 
guns and implements of death such as they 
never saw and never wished to see? From 
the high standpoint of those primeval sages 
Noah would have to write again: “Behold, 
the earth is corrupt, for all flesh hath corrupt¬ 
ed its ways.” Intenser than ever would Enoch 
fulmine his ancient commination: “ Behold, 
the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His 
saints to execute judgment upon this convict 
population, full of ungodly deeds and ungodly 
speeches, traducing the things which it knows 
not, and following only what it knows natural¬ 
ly as brute beasts.” Whilst Adam’s thoughts 
would needs turn inward with all the deeper 
self-reproach for having with open eyes start¬ 
ed the spring whence has come all this earthi¬ 
ness and apostasy. 


INEVITABLE INFERENCES. 421 

“ What shall we say, then, to these things ?” 
God certainly did not make man without at 
the same time beaming into him all the light 
and intelligence to equip him fully for all the 
requirements of the highest perfection of his 
being in his sphere, and for the intellectual and 
physical mastery of the whole earthly creation 
at the head of which he stood. That first man 
fell, but that fall did not obliterate from his 
intellect the knowledge which his' Maker had 
previously shined into it. An apostate from 
Christianity does not thereby lose the know¬ 
ledge he possessed. Judgment came upon 
Adam, and hard necessities, by reason of his 
transgression, but there was no obliteration 
of his intellectual treasures or his intellectual 
powers. Much as they have depreciated in 
transmission to his posterity, they were not 
blotted out of Adam himself. Neither did 
God cease to speak to him, or refuse to open 
up to him new and richer fields of wisdom to 
meet his condition as a sinner. Fallen Adam 
was still capable of redemption, and that re¬ 
demption God meant to accomplish in the 
course of the ongoing ages and generations 
of the race. To save Adam it was necessary 
that Adam should know of it, and to save his 
posterity it was necessary that the same know- 

36 


422 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ledge should be transmitted to them also. 
And as from him human life was multiplied, 
so to him it pertained as the great father to 
teach and transmit his sacred and saving wis¬ 
dom with the multiplication of himself. In 
the nature and necessities of the case he 
was God’s prophet to those born of him. Of 
all knowledge, the knowledge of the promised 
Redeemer was the most important and essen¬ 
tial. Therefore God would not leave him in 
any ignorance as to that promised Redeemer, 
the nature of His work, and the results of His 
administrations. The whole Gospel, or none, 
he needed to know. The whole Gospel, if 
any, he would be most anxious to comprehend. 
The whole Gospel, as he got it from God and 
hoped and rejoiced in it himself, he would be 
most concerned to teach to his children and 
to have securely recorded for all coming gen¬ 
erations. Such devout and active fidelity was 
his interest and duty as a man and a prophet, 
and what God, according to all His word and 
promises, would certainly approve and bless 
and help. It would be in the line and spirit 
of all His subsequent inspirations vouchsafed 
to men that He should do for Adam in such 
a case even more than He did for Moses and 
Samuel and Isaiah and Daniel. And here, in 


INEVITABLE INFERENCES. 423 

the records and emblems of the stars, demon- 
strably dating back to Adam’s time, and link¬ 
ed in with a true and admirable astronomy, we 
have what in every particular best resolves 
itself into a pictorial memorial of that prom¬ 
ised Redeemer’s character and achievements 
as then looked for and believed in. The 
things thus symbolized could never have 
become known from natural reason, neither 
could unaided man ever have made for them 
so perfect and sublime a record even after 
they were known. Then certainly God’s 
hand was in it. Then divine revelation is a 
demonstrated reality. Then inspiration is an 
indestructible fact. And then these glorious 
stars take on the holier brightness as the 
sublime underwriters of our Scriptures, and 
as God’s witnesses from beyond the gulf of 
ages to assure us there is no mistake in build¬ 
ing on Jesus of Nazareth as our hope and our 
salvation. Well, then, might Zacharias sing: 

“ Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for 
He hath visited and redeemed His people, 
and hath raised up an Horn of salvation for 
us in the house of His servant David; as He 
spake by the mouth of His holy prophets , which 
have been since the world began /” Luke i : 
68-70. 


ILccture Ircbentecnrt). 


THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM. 


Matt. 2:2: “ We have seen His star in the east, and are come to 
worship Him.” 


LEARNED Christian antiquarian has 



expressed his belief “ that far more 
conclusive proofs of the promise of a Re¬ 
deemer can be found in the primeval tradi¬ 
tions of our race than even in the Hebrew 
Scriptures.” He may perhaps have expressed 
himself a little too strongly, for the Old Tes¬ 
tament, rightly read, is very full of the Mes¬ 
sianic hope. But it is a great mistake to 
consign to the Evil One the whole human 
family outside of Judaism prior to the time 
of Christ, and thus to brand almost the en¬ 
tire race with the mark of Cain. It may 
have the guise of orthodoxy, but it lacks the 
element of truth. The case which comes 
before us in connection with the text effect¬ 
ually confutes it. 

It must also go very far toward establish¬ 
ing the doctrines which I have been pro- 


424 


THE VISIT OF THE MAGI 425 

pounding respecting the source and intent 
of the primeval astronomy to be able to find 
a case so clear and well authenticated in 
which the study and observation of the stars, 
in connection with the primitive traditions, 
have served to fix in Gentile minds a living 
belief in a Virgin-born Redeemer—a know¬ 
ledge so complete as to embrace the time 
and place of His advent and to bring them 
in humble adoration around His infant cradle. 
Nor can we do better, in bringing these stud¬ 
ies to a close, than by devoting a final Lecture 
to the consideration of this case. 

The Visit of the Magi. 

For a thousand years and more Christen¬ 
dom has been inquiring and wondering, Who 
were “ the wise men from the East” that came 
to Jerusalem asking about a new-born Jewish 
Prince ? How came they to know about Him ? 
What were those starry indications to which 
they referred as having induced them to make 
such costly, and laborious search for Him ? 
What were the sources of illumination by 
which they were thus brought to honor and 
worship Him in His lowly infant couch ? For 
fourteen hundred years and more the Church 
has been observing a festival in commemora- 


426 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS . 

tion of their visit, and made it the initiation 
of a season of her calendar scarcely inferior 
in prominence to the greatest of her sacred 
festivals and seasons. All Christian litera¬ 
ture from the earliest centuries is full of com¬ 
ments and homilies and songs and liturgical 
prescriptions relating to the same. The first 
book of the New Testament places it close 
to the beginning of its account of the Sa¬ 
viour as a special testimony to His dignity 
as the King of the Jews and His worship¬ 
fulness as the Son of God. The apocryphal 
Gospels of the Infancy set it forth with great 
zest and circumstantiality as one of the di- 
vinest gems in the testimonies to the glory 
of Jesus of Nazareth. And neither in ser¬ 
mon nor in song is there any one thing, save 
and except the Cross and the Resurrection, 
which is more joyously contemplated than 
this so-called “ Star of Bethlehem.” 

Diverse Opinions. 

But when it comes to the explanation of 
particulars, Christians have not been so clear 
nor so well agreed as we would expect in a 
matter of so much prominence and interest. 
The diversities of opinion are almost endless, 
and the Christian world as yet has not settled 


DIVERSE OPINIONS. 


427 


itself down upon any one theory as certainly 
the truth or of sufficient clearness to be free 
from serious difficulties and objections on the 
one hand or the other. 

As to the starry leading spoken of, some 
think it was a meteor or a comet. Others 
think it was the bright light which shone 
upon the shepherds when the angel made 
known to them Christ’s birth, assuming that 
to men afar off that remarkable light may 
have been mistaken for a star. Some think 
it was some unidentified supernatural light 
in the sky which appeared to certain devout 
men in some remote region, and which they 
could no better describe than to liken it to a 
star. Some think it was a true star among the 
stars, brought into being, or at least brought 
into view, for the particular purpose of giving 
token of the Saviour’s nativity, and then made 
to disappear, never more to be seen. Some 
think there was no real external manifesta¬ 
tion at all, that no star was ever seen by any 
one, and that the whole thing was only a vis¬ 
ion vouchsafed to these men alone. 

Of later years it is more generally sup¬ 
posed to have been a conjunction of the 
planets Jupiter and Saturn, such as did act¬ 
ually occur about that time, and which may 


428 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS . 

have entered somewhat into the case, al¬ 
though the conjunctions referred to were not 
close enough to create the appearance of a 
single star, and were not in any respect what 
could with propriety be called Christ’s Star. 
Admitting all that Jewish rabbis as well as 
the Gentile astrologists and prognosticators 
have claimed for such conjunctions, there still 
would be a great lack to account adequately 
for the very definite and powerful convictions 
respecting Christ’s birth which these men 
showed, and for their reference to an indi¬ 
vidual star, which they described as the star 
of the new-born Prince they were seeking. 
True, Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, and others 
testify that there was at that time a widespread 
expectation of some great and triumphing 
Prince to arise in the East; but said expec¬ 
tation was so indefinite, and was actually ap¬ 
plied in directions so unaccordant with the 
true Messiah and His predicted character, 
that it cannot be taken as at all up to what 
was in the mind of these Magi and implied 
in their inquiry. They expected to find a di¬ 
vine and worshipful being, by birth a Jewish 
Prince, and by character and right entitled to 
the homage of all the children of men. They 
had no question or doubt upon the subject. 


DIVERSE OPINIONS. 429 

They knew that a great and wonderful per¬ 
sonage was born. They knew and believed 
that He was worthy of the sacred worship of 
all men, and that it was their holiest interest 
and duty to come and greet Him with their 
best gifts, acknowledgments, and adoration. 
This was more than the prevailing expecta¬ 
tion anywhere showed. 

Whence, then, came this clear and definite 
knowledge on the subject, exceeding even 
that of the sacred scribes and priests of Ju¬ 
dea itself, with all the records and foreshow¬ 
ings of Moses and the prophets before them ? 
The prophecy of Balaam touching the Star 
that was to arise out of Jacob may have had 
some remote connection with it, but it will 
scarcely begin to account for the clear, un¬ 
doubting, and living faith touching the new¬ 
born Saviour which glowed in the hearts of 
these wise men. Prophecies of Daniel and 
influences of the Jewish teachings in general 
may also have floated down among these 
people from the great Captivity times ; but, 
at the best, it would still not account for what 
we see exhibited in these Magi. A special 
revelation to them alone, without any further 
record of it on earth, would be so unlike what 
we know of God’s methods and purposes in 


430 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

the giving of His revelations that it is un¬ 
warranted to suppose it. 

How, then, did these Magi come to know 
so much about Christ as an adorable King 
and Saviour? How came they to such full 
conviction that His birth had occurred in Ju¬ 
dea ? * The true answer is: By the signs and 
constellations of the primeval astronomy , and the 
legends connected with them , interpreted as we 
have been contemplating them in these Lectures. 

Astronomic Facts. 

It is an astronomic fact, independent of all 
hypotheses, that at the precise hour of mid¬ 
night, at the winter solstice, or the last week 
of December, in the period in which Christ 
was born, the sign of Virgo , everywhere and 
always regarded as the sign of the virgin- 
mother from whom the divine-human Re¬ 
deemer-King was to be born, was just rising 
on the eastern horizon. 

It is a further astronomical fact, independent 
of all hypotheses, that at the spring equinox 
of the same period, just nine months earlier, 
this sign of the Virgin at midnight was on the 
meridian, with the line running precisely across 
her bosom. 

It is a further independent astronomical 


A PRIMEVAL TRADITION. 431 

fact that at the same date, at midnight, the 
stars of the little constellation of Coma , the 
special sign of the infant Seed of the woman, 
the Desire of nations, was likewise, along with 
the Virgin, directly on the meridian. 

Now, if our interpretation of these ancient 
astronomical signs be the true one, we have 
here some remarkable indications in which 
the facts and the signs singularly coincide. 
Taken by themselves, they might not mean 
much; but if other particulars, to be named, 
duly fill out the picture, they would help to 
fix the heavenly tokens that the time had in 
very truth come in which the great Virgin- 
born Deliverer was to appear. They are im¬ 
portant factors in the case. 

A Primeval Tradition. 

It is also a matter of record, among both 
Gentile and Jewish peoples, that the patriarch 
Seth, in whose day these heavenly signs were 
arranged and completed, gave out a prophecy 
in connection with them, that in the period in 
which the great promised One should be born 
there would appear a very bright star in the 
heavens. This was perhaps the very proph¬ 
ecy traditional among the ancient Magi and 
Parsis, that there should come a heavenly 


432 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Child to command the homage and obedience 
of mankind, the sign of whose birth would be 
the appearance of a new and peculiar star in 
the sign of Virgo. Likewise, the Jews also 
have always held and taught that Messiah’s 
advent would be heralded by a new and pecu¬ 
liar star. Hence the great impostor who gave 
himself out as their Messiah called himself 
Barcokheba, “ the Son of the Star.” 

A New Star. 

Now, it is a matter of record that a new 
and peculiar star did make its appearance in 
the first Decan of Virgo in the period imme¬ 
diately preceding Christ’s birth, and that it 
was so bright as to be visible even in the day¬ 
time. Ignatius says it “ sparkled brilliantly 
above all stars.” The same continued in 
the sky during the whole period of Christ’s 
lifetime, and for a time thereafter. Hip¬ 
parchus, about one hundred and twenty-five 
years before Christ, observed it as a new star, 
and was led by it to draw up his catalogue of 
the stars. Ptolemy, about one hundred and 
fifty years after Christ, refers to it as having 
been observed by Hipparchus, but as having 
become so faint as hardly to be any longer 
distinguishable. The Chinese records also 


A NEW STAR. 


433 


make mention of this new bright star at a 
time corresponding to the period of our Sa¬ 
viour's birth. Since the time of Ptolemy we 
have no record of any observation of it. This 
star was in Coma , the sign of the Infant ac¬ 
companying Virgo, and it marked the very 
head of that Infant. It was on the meridian 
at midnight at die spring equinox, just nine 
months before Christ was born, as a^ain 
three months thereafter. Its brightness would 
necessarily arrest the attention of observers 
of the heavens, and awaken special interest 
in Coma and the Virgin-born Infant which that 
constellation signified both in figure and name. 
Believers in the sacred meaning of these signs, 
especially in connection with the traditional 
prophecy of the new star, which seems also 
to have been in Balaam’s mind, could not 
help but be convinced from these showings 
that the coming of the Desired One was sure¬ 
ly approaching. It was a sort of midnight cry, 
“ Behold, He cometh!” The star itself would 
thus also be just what these Magi called the 
star by which they were led—namely, Christ’s 
Star, emphatically “ His starfor it was a 
star of His particular constellation as the De¬ 
sire of nations, and the peculiar star of His 
infancy, as it marked the Infant’s head, and 

37 2 G 


434 the gospel jn the stars. 

was at the time by far the brightest in the 
constellation, as well as in all the heavens 
around. 

To believers in the import of these signs 
as I have given them there could be no ques¬ 
tion about the meaning of these indications. 
But still, the time would remain far more in¬ 
definite than it seems to have been in the 
minds of these distinguished visitors. There 
needed to be some further and more sharply- 
narrowed indications to account for the whole 
case in this line of explanation. But such 
more definite indications were not wanting. 

Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn. 

In the rabbinical commentaries of Abar- 
banel, Eliezer, and others great stress is laid 
on conjunctions of the planets Jupiter and 
Saturn. It is there also affirmed that about 
three years before the birth of Moses a con¬ 
junction between Jupiter and Saturn occurred 
in the sign of Pisces. By astronomical cal¬ 
culations we know that such a conjunction of 
these particular planets in that particular sign 
did take place about that period. According 
to Josephus and the rabbis, this sign was in¬ 
terpreted by the Egyptian astronomers and 
wise men as very favorable to the Jews and 


} 


CONJUNCTIONS OF JUPITER AND SATURN. 435 

very unfavorable to the Egyptians. Their 
sacred scribes, noted for their skill and sa¬ 
gacity in these things, came to the king in¬ 
sisting that it foretokened the birth of a 
child among the Jews who, if allowed to 
live, would bring the Egyptian dominion 
very low, excel in virtue and glory, exalt 
the children of Israel to power and honor, 
and be remembered throughout all ages. 
(See Josephus, Ant. ii. 9, §§ 2 and 27.) 

Three things here come out with great 
clearness and conspicuity which deserve to 
be particularly noted: first\ that the star¬ 
reading of a conjunction between Jupiter and 
Saturn betokened the birth of a great, vir¬ 
tuous, princely, and glorious operator among 
men, and the beginning or starting of a new 
order of things; * second, that the sign in 
which the conjunction occurred indicated 
the people among whom the child was to 
be born ; and third, that the children of Israel 
were already at that early period associated 
with the sign of Pisces. 


* Kepler, on consulting the periods of the conjunctions between 
Jupiter and Saturn, gave it as his opinion that such conjunctions as¬ 
tronomically coincided with the approach of each climacteric in 
human affairs; to wit, the revelation to Adam, the birth of Enoch, 
the Deluge, the birth of Moses, the birth of Cyrus, the birth of 
Christ, the birth of Charlemagne, and the birth of Luther. 


436 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Josephus says that it was in consequence 
of what the scribes augured from these indi¬ 
cations that the decree went forth from Pha¬ 
raoh to slay every male child that should be 
born during the time impending. 

We thus have the Jewish rabbis and the 
Gentile Egyptian scribes most seriously, on 
both sides, concurring ‘in the interpretation 
of some very important points in astronomic 
indications, and may well conclude that their 
views and teachings with regard to these par¬ 
ticulars were the same that held on the sub¬ 
ject among the learned in such lore through¬ 
out the world in general, including the wise 
men who asked the question of the text. 
Abarbanel, in his Commentary on Daniel, 
affirms it as a settled thing that the conjunc¬ 
tion of Jupiter and Saturn always betokens 
some great event or beginning in human af¬ 
fairs, and because such a conjunction occurred 
in his day (about a. d. 1480), he expected the 
speedy birth of the Messiah, as still expected 
by the Jews. 

Now, if an individual and isolated conjunc¬ 
tion of these two planets presaged the birth 
of one so illustrious as Moses, and always 
indicates the coming of some great one on 
earth, what would be the dignity and glory 


CONJUNCTIONS OF JUPITER AND SA TURN. 437 

of a Child whose birth is heralded by three 
successive conjunctions of these same planets 
in one and the same year? And yet this is 
what, in fact, did occur just before the birth 
of Jesus of Nazareth. 

In the year of Rome 747, within the two 
years preceding the Nativity, during the last 
days of May, there was one such conjunction. 
In the same year, during the last days of Octo¬ 
ber there was another such conjunction. And 
again in the same year, during the first days 
of December, there was a third conjunction— 
all three being conjunctions of Jupiter and 
Saturn, as on the occasion of the birth of 
Moses. It was Kepler, the great German 
astronomer, who first pointed out these re¬ 
markable incidents of the heavens, and gave 
the opinion that they were most likely the 
starry phenomena which influenced the wise 
men in the case before us. The calculations 
on the subject have been repeatedly re-ex¬ 
amined, and latest by the astronomer-royal 
at Greenwich, and pronounced to be correct. 
Independent of all theories or interpreta¬ 
tions, the facts thus stand attested by the 
best science, and, as Farrar says, “ do not 
seem to admit of denial.” 

And as the star in the head of the Virgin- 


438 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS, 

born Infant was at the time shining with a 
peculiar brilliancy new to it and brighter than 
all other fixed stars in the firmament, those 
who took the conjunctions of Jupiter and Sat¬ 
urn as indicating the near birth of a lordly 
and illustrious operator in human affairs 
could by no means help themselves from 
the conclusion that here was the astronomic 
showing of the pending birth of a triply-illus- 
trious One, who could be none other than 
that divine-human Seed of the woman every¬ 
where set forth in the constellations, and 
promised and hoped for among all nations 
from the foundations of the world. These 
wise men would thus know, and be assured 
beyond all doubt or misgiving, that the par¬ 
ticular time had come in which the worshipful 
One they were seeking was to make His ad¬ 
vent. Such portentous conjunctions, along 
with the new star in Coma, and the Virgin 
herself on the meridian at the same time, 
would seal the whole matter. The signs 
were full, definite, and complete. 

The Sign of the Fishes. 

And as to His being born in Judea as a 
Jewish Prince, that they would know from the 
same signs, just as well as the Egyptian priests 


THE SIGN OF THE FISHES. 439 

knew from the conjunction of the same plan¬ 
ets many centuries before that the illustrious 
one they held to be presaged at that time was 
to arise from among the seed of Jacob. The 
conjunction occurred in Pisces , the sign of the 
Fishes; and the sign of the Fishes, by Jews 
and Gentiles alike, was assigned to the Israel- 
itish people as to the Sethites and Shemites, 
who held to the worship of one only God and 
His holy promises over against apostates and 
unbelievers. Abarbanel argues five reasons 
for the reference of the sign of Pisces to Is¬ 
rael. In our explanations the sign of the 
Fishes means the earthly Church, and the seed 
of Jacob at that time constituted God’s chosen 
and acknowledged people. And, as a matter 
of astronomic fact, all three of the conjunctions 
between Jupiter and Saturn which immediate¬ 
ly preceded Christ’s birth were in the sign of 
the Fishes —the first in the twentieth degree, 
the second in the sixteenth degree, and the 
third in the fifteenth degree. With the same 
clearness and loudness, therefore, with which 
these planetary conjunctions and stellar indi¬ 
cations announced the immediate birth of the 
glorious divine-human Seed of the woman, 
did they also announce that He was to arise 
out of Jacob and to be a Jewish Prince. 


440 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


The Following of the Star. 

It was in December, at the winter solstice, 
then the twenty-fifth day of the month, that 
Christ was born. It was most likely in the 
following March, about the time of the spring 
equinox, at the first anniversary of the angel’s 
annunciation to Mary, that these wise men 
reached Jerusalem. The Church mostly puts 
it a little earlier, but without very solid chro¬ 
nological reasons. It was at this time that 
the bright star in Coma was vertical at Jeru¬ 
salem at midnight. The record plainly im¬ 
plies that these men were following the star 
they spoke of as Christ’s Star. The follow¬ 
ing of the star in Coma, so emphatically the 
star of the infant Seed of the woman, could be 
no other following than the going to the place 
at which it would be thus vertical over them 
at that hour. We cannot conceive of any 
other sort of following of a fixed star. And 
it was at Jerusalem, and only there or close 
on that particular line of latitude at that par¬ 
ticular time of the year, that this star was ver¬ 
tical at exact midnight. This would also al¬ 
low the required time for their journey after 
the third conjunction. 

The further item in the narrative, to the 


THE FOLLOWING OF THE STAR. 441 

effect that “ the star went before them till it 
came and stood over where the young child 
was,” is explainable in the same way. The 
short distance of some six miles between Je¬ 
rusalem and Bethlehem would make so little 
difference in the observation of a vertical star 
that it would be impossible to note it without 
special astronomical appliances. Hence, when 
these followers of the star came to Jerusalem, 
they had gone as near to the spot they were 
searching for as their natural observation 
could serve to bring them. Accordingly, the 
record implies that there they somehow lost 
the benefit of the star’s leading, so that they 
applied to Herod for further information. 
Their light from the observance of the stars 
being in this way exhausted, they would nat¬ 
urally betake themselves to the reigning sov¬ 
ereign there to learn the specific locality in 
which this sublime Prince was born, being 
assured by their starry guidance that it must 
needs be somewhere in that immediate vicin¬ 
ity. And having obtained answer that Beth¬ 
lehem was the exact place indicated by sacred 
prophecy, they set out for Bethlehem. 

But on their way to Bethlehem, by some* 
means or other, to their great joy, their star 
began to serve them again the same as it did 


44 2 THE gospel in the stars. 

before. How this came about is explained by 
a well-preserved and beautiful old tradition 
which we have no reason to discredit. 

Though Bethlehem is only about six miles 
from Jerusalem, it is said that these distin¬ 
guished visitors stopped on the way, and tar¬ 
ried by the side of a deep well. What they 
halted for in so short a journey it would be 
hard to tell, except it was to take another 
midnight observation of their star. For this 
purpose the well, with its perpendicular walls, 
would serve them the same as a fixed obser¬ 
vatory. It was by means of such a well, and 
the reflection of the sun in it, at Syene in 
Egypt, that the line of the tropic was deter¬ 
mined, and the extent of its declination in the 
time that had elapsed since that well was dug. 
So these wise men, by looking down the well, 
and observing the reflection of their bright 
star in the still water at the bottom, could 
find with great accuracy whether it was ex¬ 
actly vertical over them, or in what respect, 
if any, it was not. And so the tradition is, 
that they looked into the well and saw their 
star, and perceived that it “ stood over”—was 
- exactly vertical at—not Jerusalem, but Bethle¬ 
hem , “where the young child was.” Making 
it designate the house is not in the record. 


PROPHECY AND ASTRONOMY. 


443 


Junction of Prophecy and Astronomy. 

The result of the acquisition of this new 
light by means of their own star-guide tradi¬ 
tion and the Scriptures both describe. They 
both say that “ when they saw the star ” and 
realized its relation to Bethlehem, “they re¬ 
joiced with exceeding great joy.” And well 
they might, for it was a conjunction like that 
of Jupiter and Saturn themselves—the per¬ 
fect conjunction and coincidence of the pri¬ 
meval astronomy and the revelations giv¬ 
en by Israel’s prophets touching the great 
Messiah. These men, indeed, had not yet 
reached the object of their search, but they 
were now doubly sure of finding and seeing 
the illustrious Virgin-born Saviour of the 
world, of whom the heavens and all sacred 
story had been telling and prophesying from 
remotest antiquity, and in whom they felt 
more interest than in all the earth besides. 
It was the Eureka ! Eureka ! of Gentile faith 
and hope on the threshold of embracing the 
adorable infant Seed of the woman, of whose 
glorious advent they had now no longer the 
least shadow of a doubt. Nor need we be 
surprised if it should turn out that this was 
the very well of Bethlehem of which David 


444 the gospel in the stars. 

had such fond remembrance, and from which 
he so longed to drink. 

And when we come to consider who these 
“ wise men ” were, whence they came, and 
what their character, position, relations, and 
main occupations, our explanation of the case 
is doubly strengthened. 

Who the Magi were. 

There has been about as much uncertainty, 
debate, and diversity of opinion touching the 
identity of these people as about the star of 
which they spake. It would be a waste of 
time to describe the wide-ranging imaginings 
upon the subject. We only need to know 
the solid facts in the case. 

It is settled by Matthew’s narrative that 
these people on their mission of homage to 
the infant Christ were Magi , and that they 
came from a country far eastward from Pal¬ 
estine. Whether from due east is not in¬ 
volved in the statement. According to all 
the elements of the showing, and by the gen¬ 
eral consent of the Church in all ages, they 
were Gentiles — the first-fruits unto Christ 
from the Gentile world. All classic writers, 
from Herodotus down to Ammianus, agree 
in pointing to Media as their home-country— 


WHO THE MAGI WERE. 445 

the country of the illustrious Cyrus, who is 
noted in sacred prophecy and was announced 
by inspiration as God’s anointed for the de¬ 
liverance of Israel from Babylon long before 
he was born. 

The Magi are specially named in the list 
of the Median tribes, just as Matthew names 
them. Anciently they were mostly a pastoral 
people greatly occupied with religion, astron¬ 
omy, and other sacred sciences. They were the 
great teachers of kings and people in the di¬ 
vine wisdom. They were a priestly or sacer¬ 
dotal tribe, after the style of Levi among the 
tribes of Israel. It was their hereditary priv¬ 
ilege to provide their country with priests and 
religious instructors. They were the minis¬ 
ters and prophets of their day. Their relig¬ 
ion was the noblest and the least corrupted 
of all the ancient world. They lived mostly 
in towns without walls, observing their own 
laws and trusting to God alone for protec¬ 
tion. It was from among them that Zoroaster 
sprung, if indeed such a man ever lived, and 
that Confucius, more remotely perhaps, ob¬ 
tained his better knowledge. It was from 
among them that Cyrus selected his priests 
for Persia. They believed in one God, orig¬ 
inal Creator, supreme in omniscience and 

38 


446 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

goodness, unrivalled in splendor, and dwell¬ 
ing in light eternal. They believed in a great 
and powerful spirit of evil in constant antag¬ 
onism to God, the spoiler of the divine-works 
and the author of all mischief. The history 
of the world to them was the history of the 
conflict of the good originating with God and 
the evil originating with the Devil. All men 
they considered active in this conflict on the 
one side or the other. They held that God 
by His prophets gave a revelation and a law 
by which men might know their duty, fashion 
their hopes, and direct their conduct, and 
which it was their business to preserve and 
expound. They possessed both the Solar 
and Lunar Zodiacs, and claimed that they 
were given of God to teach man wisdom, 
forecast the future, and give hope to the 
good. According to the showings of the 
constellations, they looked for a time when a 
Son of the eternal Lawgiver would be born, 
who should be a great Saviour and Deliverer, 
by whom the spirit of evil and the powers of 
hell would be destroyed, the dead raised up 
to life again, and a kingdom of everlasting 
life and happiness established over all the 
earth. 

So I find it written in the best accounts of 


WHO THE MAGI WE EE. 44/ 

them and in those fragments of their sacred 
books which are still preserved and of late 
years published in our tongue. 

And, as before Abraham’s time and outside 
of his chosen family-line, there were men like 
Job and his friends, like Melchisedec, king of 
Salem, like Jethro, priest of Midian and father- 
in-law of Moses, like Balaam before his fall— 
men of faith in the traditional revelations that 
came forth out of the ark—men whom the 
Spirit of God and saving wisdom had not en¬ 
tirely abandoned—so in the time of Christ’s 
birth there were some noble spirits among 
the descendants of these ancient Magi who 
still eagerly clung to the hope of the sure ful¬ 
filment of the primeval promise, and hence con¬ 
tinued to observe the heavens, and to consult 
what they considered the inspired lore of the 
skies, that they might not miss the signs and 
tokens noted in the hereditary prophecies 
of their caste as presages of the advent of 
the great Virgin-born Son of the eternal 
Sovereign. 

And to men of such descent, culture, faith, 
hope, office, and pursuits, what more would be 
necessary than just the starry indications which 
I have named to thrill their souls with pro- 
foundest enthusiasm, fan the smouldering em- 


44 8 the gospel in the stars. 

bers of their hereditary knowledge into a flame 
of intensest animation, and create just such 
an expedition to greet the new-born divine 
King, as that described in connection with the 
text ? Had we been in their place, with their 
beliefs, feelings, and anticipations, with such 
signs and indications upon the face of the sky, 
where we and our fathers were taught to read 
the sacred foreshowings of what was to come 
to pass, I feel sure that we would have been 
moved, rejoiced, thrilled, and impelled just as 
they were. 

And why, then, should we not accept the 
conclusion that so it was ? There is not a 
particle of evidence on earth that this was not 
the true state of the case as respects the Magi. 
All the conditions and known facts and pre¬ 
sumable likelihoods point in this one direc¬ 
tion. Everything in the record thus explains 
to the full as it will not explain in any other 
way known to men. And the whole result in 
this view takes on that dignity, importance, 
and far-reaching instructiveness which best 
befit its place in the New Testament. It is 
a view which silences and sweeps away the 
unworthy suspicions, perplexities, and cavils 
which have so long hung about it in the minds 
and estimates of many, clearing it up into def- 


THE SUM OF THE WHOLE. 449 

inite and comprehensible shape, and vindi¬ 
cating the action of the Church in putting it 
forward as the subject of a special festival, 
the opening theme of a prominent season in 
her calendar, and the keynote of the earthly 
Epiphany of the sublime Redeemer of the 
world. 


The Sum. of the Whole. 

Here, then, is a magnificent instance, ac¬ 
credited by the Holy Ghost, which stands as 
an everlasting testimony to the fact of a pri¬ 
meval revelation to all men, to the existence 
of a record of that revelation in the primeval 
astronomy, and to the preservation of the 
same in sufficient incorruptness to inform 
those who clung to it of the time and place 
of the nativity of the long-promised Seed 
of the woman, and to move them to go and 
greet Him in His cradle with their devoutest 
homage and adoration. Surely, this ought to 
be enough to put the matter beyond dispute, 
and to settle for ever that there is such a 
thing as the Gospel in the Stars —even that 
very Gospel of God which holds forth Jesus 
of Nazareth as the promised Seed of the wo¬ 
man, the divine-human Son of the Virgin, who 
was to come, to suffer, and to toil and die for 


450 THE gospel in the stars. 

the deliverance of man from darkness, sin, 
death, and the power of the Devil, to bruise 
the head of the Serpent, to destroy the works 
and dominion of the great Enemy, and to 
bring in everlasting redemption to our fallen 
race. It was to Jesus of Nazareth, even in 
His cradle, that the primeval astronomy con¬ 
ducted these remote Gentile believers; and 
to that same Jesus, amid vivid and glowing 
illustrations of the truth respecting His na¬ 
ture, person, mission and work, past, present, 
and future, the primeval astronomy is still 
capable of conducting even Christians them¬ 
selves. 

To those who have entered into the induc¬ 
tion of facts and showings which I have given, 
though imperfectly, in these Lectures, I am 
sure no further evidence is needed to work 
conviction of the merit and worth of the sub¬ 
ject, and of the evangelic illuminations which 
it furnishes. We have considered these heav¬ 
ens, and, behold, we have found them flaming 
from end to end, from centre to circumfer¬ 
ence, with that superlative “glory of God” 
which shines “in the face of Jesus Christ.” 
We have taken our stand beneath the shining 
archway, and looked at the grand procession 
of the celestial scenery as inscribed by God’s 


THE SUM OF THE WHOLE. 45 I 

primeval prophets, and have listened to the 
story as it unfolded; and, lo! it is the same 
blessed story of the fall and redemption— 
of Jesus and “the restitution of all things”— 
which we have in the writings of the Prophets 
and Apostles. Our experience has been akin 
to that of those on Jordan’s banks, who saw 
the heavens opened, and beheld the Spirit 
alighting on the Virgin’s Child, and heard a 
voice from the depths of eternity saying, 
“ This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well 
pleased .” On that great Virgin-born our 
eyes were fixed from the very starting-point. 
On Him our attention has been kept and 
riveted at every step of the way through the 
whole circuit of the skies, with the Ecliptic 
and across it. And ever sharper, clearer, 
gladder, and fuller grew the glorious testi¬ 
mony as we advanced, till all the morning 
stars seemed to resume their ancient songs 
and all the sons of light their primeval shouts, 
whilst these far-spanning heavens through all 
their constellations rang out, “ Hosannah! 
Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the 
Loj'd! Hosannah in the highest /” 

On such sublime heights, amid such scenes 
of song and brightness, we would fain linger. 
Like Peter on the mount, we would here build 


452 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


tabernacles and abide. But, though to other 
scenes and duties called, like him we still may 
bear away with us the memory of what we 
have witnessed, and think of it in our humble 
toils and sad solitudes, and be all the firmer 
in our faith and the more hopeful in our out¬ 
look toward the nearing eternity. And happy 
they, and wise indeed, to whom it is given 
through these contemplations to say in truth 
and soul-earnestness of Him to whom the 
heavens thus testify, “ We have seen His star , 
and are come to worship Him!' 

Thus, then, my long task is done. And 
may the God of heaven and earth, who bring- 
eth forth Mazzaroth in his seasons and guides 
Arcturus with his sons, bless the humble con¬ 
tribution to the confirmation of His Word, the 
honor of His Name, and the vindication of the 
claims of Jesus Christ to the undoubting faith 
and everlasting adoration of all that live and 
move beneath His genial skies! 


Gloria in Excelsis Deo! 


SUPPLEMENT, 


NOTICES OF “THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS,” CRITI¬ 
CISMS, REPLIES TO QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIONS, 
WITH FURTHER EXPLANATIONS, ARGUMENTS, 
AUTHORITIES, AND A GENERAL INDEX. 


Notices. 

The author of this book has no reason to com¬ 
plain of a lack of notices of his work. The press 
in general has referred to it, and a hundred or more 
of such notices have come into his possession. Some 
of these have been very sympathetic with the theme 
and have much commended the argument. 

Thus, Stoddart's Review , among other favorable 
expressions, says : 

“ Fie makes it apparent that the strange figures belonging to the 
constellations were familiar at a period that antedates by thousands 
of years any known religious faith which failed to recognize the 
existence and power of the true God. The evidence is strong 
which maintains that these devices had their origin in the very 
earliest ages of the world; and this one fact, proved as it seems to 
be, may be accepted as excellent testimony to their divine origin; 
and if that origin was divine, then it is fair to attempt, as Dr. S. 
does, to ascertain what was the purpose of their arrangement. If 
the hand of the Creator appears in these signs, confessed through 

453 



454 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


all the centuries to be surrounded by mystery, and having a persist¬ 
ent existence which cannot be accounted for by the action of purely 
human agencies, then it is a fair inference that there is behind them 
some wonderful and eternal purpose which man, in a just spirit of 
reverence, may seek to detect.” 

Thus, The Prophetic Times says : 

“ The correspondence between the starry groups and the Sacred 
Scriptures is traced with a vigorous pen, and invested with an 
absorbing interest as vivid as it is novel; and we rise from its 
perusal with the conviction that there can be no question but that 
the Gospel glows in these heavenly constellations with all the lustre 
of the stars themselves. The most remarkable thing elicited by the 
doctor's researches, and clearly exhibited in this book, is, that such 
an array of symbolic figures, with the names of the principal stars 
composing the groups, should admit of being interpreted by the facts 
and truths of the Gospel; showing beyond cavil the divine origin 
of both. We have often wondered what these abnormal figures of 
astronomy could mean, and supposed they were of a piece with the 
absurdities of heathen mythology; and our satisfaction is as great 
as our surprise to find them so completely rescued from that abuse 
and restored to what appears to have been their divinely-intended 
service. And Dr. S. merits great praise for his indefatigable re¬ 
search and consummate skill in penetrating and removing the veil 
of mythology, and discovering to us in so masterly a manner their 
true symbolic character and meaning.” 

Thus also the Christian Union says: 

“ The attempt to read the Gospel of Christ from the skies seems 
absurd, but the boldness of Dr. Seiss has been rewarded with so 
much of success as demands careful thought. With much skill the 
author has explained the meaning of these heavenly emblems in the 
light of the New-Testament revelations. The history of the past, 
and the yet unfulfilled prophecies, are read in these strange figures 
of the skies, and the studies of Dr. S. now made public surely 
enrich the geography of the heavens and give new delight to the 
devout soul. The book is an evidence of what the things of crea¬ 
tion can be made to teach those who are in sympathy with the great 


NOTICES. 


455 


plan of redemption, and what yet may be unfolded of the wisdom 
and power of God when the unity of all His works is fully known.” 

Likewise, the Boston Newsdealers' Bulletin says: 

“ This volume displays to view the absurdity of the theories of 
skeptics, explains the origin and meaning of the constellations of 
the heavens, and shows what bearing they have upon the Christian 
religion and the sustaining of the truths set forth in the Word of 
God. He sees much in the myths of primeval history, and proves 
irrevocably that Jesus is the divine and appointed Saviour.” 

The Messenger of the Reformed Church says : 

“ We have been very much pleased with the book. It is possible 
that an occasional citation from the Scriptures may seem to be a 
little far-fetched, but there is more truth in the general assertions 
than most people wot of.” 

The New England Journal of Education says : 

“ The whole subject is fresh, new, and thoroughly handled, and 
the same is presented in popular form, which the plainest under¬ 
standing can easily follow, whether familiar with astronomy or not. 
To readers in general, and particularly to those interested in Reve¬ 
lation, the evidence of inspiration, and the proofs that Jesus is the 
divine and appointed Saviour of the World, this book cannot fail to 
be of intense interest.” 

The Lutheran Church Review says : 

“ The conclusions reached, while from their novelty often causing 
the reader to plead surprise and to ask a stay of judgment, seem so 
fairly reached that the conviction grows upon the mind that if they 
are to be refuted, it can be done only by showing that the facts pre¬ 
mised are no facts at all. The writer of this notice has no intention 
to undertake a task of that sort.” 

The Fort Wayne Gazette says : 

“ The argument which the author makes is not a flimsy one, by 
any means. The inferences drawn from the facts represented are 


456 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


quite satisfactory, and cannot be brushed away as being mere trifles. 
It is a work of more than a passing interest. It affords subject for 
thought and reflection, and will have a wide circulation.” 

Even in the majority of instances in which the 
writers have expressed a reserve as to the theory of 
the book there has been a hearty commendation of 
it as worthy of particular consideration, as containing 
much important astronomical, historical, and theo¬ 
logical material, as tending to interest and edify in 
the direction of sound faith, and as opening up a 
subject of legitimate inquiry, the study of which may 
result in conclusions of solid worth in the interpre¬ 
tation of much that is not understood or greatly mis¬ 
understood. 

Thus The Guardian says : 

“ This work is well worth reading. It opens up a general subject 
which is more and more attracting attention, especially since the late 
discoveries of Modern Science in the field of Ancient Ethnography. 

“Traditional accounts of the Creation, and of the great facts in 
the history of Man, were treasured up, not only in the Books of 
Moses, but in those inscriptions engraved by the immediate descend¬ 
ants of Noah which have recently been brought to light, and which 
have of late years been deciphered. 

“Nor are such historical memorials of those great events con¬ 
fined to the tablets found in the ruins of Bablyon and Nineveh alone. 
Indeed, it is contended that such traditions have been handed down 
in symbols of various kinds found in Egypt, Asia, Mexico, Central 
America, and Peru. And such a scholar as Humboldt is cited as 
bearing witness to the wonderful analogy existing in these symbolic 
mysteries. 

“In such explanations of the signs of the Zodiac [and other 
ancient constellations] Dr. S. does not claim originality; and he 
makes use of an amount of literary contributions to the subject, of 
which little is generally known. He makes one good point against 
modern Infidelity. 


NOTICES. 


45 7 


“To all those who believe that the Lamb of God was ‘ slain 
from the foundation of the world’ (Rev. 13:8) Dr. Seiss’s interpre¬ 
tation of the signs of the Zodiac will have its interest, however little 
reliance they may place upon his theory.” 

The Printers Circular says : 

“ A strong, plausible case is made out by the learned author, who 
exhausts vast stores of erudition to establish and prove his novel 
position. Those who do not agree with him must at least concede 
him the possession of far more astronomical lore than is usually 
possessed by doctors of divinity. The book is sure to be welcomed 
as a permanent addition to the world’s stock of speculative the- 
ology.” 

So the Utica Herald: 

“ While it is easy to say that the theory put forth in this book is 
full of imagination, and seems wholly fanciful and far-fetched, no 
one can say that as interpretations of the constellations these anal¬ 
ogies are not quite as reasonable and far more dignified than many 
of the myths with which they are now associated.” 

So the Indianapolis Republican: 

“ The author has done good work in this book, and his study 
of the subject shows through every sentence. He has crowded a 
world of useful and curious information into a handy volume, and 
connects the olden myths with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a 
manner as clear as it is new to many. The book is a valuable 
acquisition, and cannot but be of interest to all.” 

So also the Chicago Standard : 

“ It will not do to dismiss without reflection the theory presented 
by the writer, however fanciful it may at first seem. That God wrote 
the story of the Cross in the constellations of the heavens we may 
not be ready to accept as truth, but, whether we reject this hypoth¬ 
esis or not, we can hardly escape the feeling that there are facts 
involved in the science of Astronomy which require a reasonable 
explanation on Christian grounds. How came the manifold resem- 
39 


458 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


blances betwixt the Gospel story and the intimations both of myth¬ 
ology and astrology ? Dr. Seiss’s theory is at least worthy of con¬ 
sideration, and, while personally we should not adopt it, still we 
admire the carefulness and thoroughness of the discussion before us, 
and for its stimulus and suggestion heartily recommend it to our 
readers. The spirit of the work is thoroughly devout, and, as is 
manifest, evangelical.” 

The Presbyterian says: “ The book is certainly one 
of interest, whatever may be thought of the theory 
and so many other writers of Book Notices in papers 
of various classes. 


Criticisms. 

The adverse notices of this book have mainly 
come from three classes of minds. The first class 
consists of those who have no idea of a personal 
God, treat all religion as superstition, reject inspi¬ 
ration in the sense of divine revelation, and see 
no need of an atoning Redeemer. A reviewer 
expresses the belief that “ one of the uses of this 
book possibly will be to tend to destroy much of 
the force of that kind of infidelity which pretends 
to find all the germs of Christianity in precedent 
religions and mythologies.” The author has learned 
of an instance in which the consideration of these 
presentations was the means of reclaiming a pro¬ 
nounced infidel to faith in the Gospel. The book, 
therefore, is very much in conflict with infidelity, 
and has done anything but please skeptics and those 
skeptically inclined. 

The second class consists of professed Christians, 


CRITICISMS. 


459 


of the so-called liberal and rationalistic school, the 
bent of whose philosophy is to contemplate man 
as a creature of cultivation from a troglodite or 
savage, and destined to rise by self-development, 
perhaps with a little adventitious aid, into ultimate 
perfection, and who are accordingly very devoted 
to what they are pleased to call Progress. The 
whole showing and doctrine of this book is much 
of a stumbling-block in the way of such thinking, 
and hence, to minds of this class, it is “ wild,” 
“ imaginary,” “ a fanciful endeavor to make a pro¬ 
phetic purpose out of the names (?) of the constel¬ 
lations,” “ absurd.” 

The third class consists of certain self-complacent 
believers, jealous of everything that happens to go 
beyond the range of their treadmill paths. These 
are stirred with pious alarm at any attempt to show 
that the same prophetic Word of God may possibly 
have another record of its glorious contents in an¬ 
other place and form from the Bible. They cannot 
favor this book, lest they should encourage a style 
of reasoning that may bring discredit on the very 
cause it seeks to advocate. 

A striking example of such cowardly trembling 
for the Ark of the Lord is presented in one who 
deploringly says, “ The purpose is so praiseworthy, 
and the zeal and eloquence brought to bear upon 
it are so great, that some will doubtless be carried 
away by the reasoning of the author to a conviction 
that the heavenly constellations are indeed a pre¬ 
vious revelation of vital importance ”! 


460 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

There is, of course, but one Revelation, one 
Christ, one Gospel, one plan and purpose of Re¬ 
demption for fallen man, even that which is written 
in the Old and New Testaments; but why may it 
not be given in a thousand different modes of pres¬ 
entation, to as many prophets, in different ages, 
symbolically here and didactically there, in high 
poetry or in simple parable? And where is the 
harm or loss to sacred truth, the calamity to souls, 
the disadvantage to faith, if it should appear that 
God verily caused His glorious Gospel to be pic- 
torially inscribed on the everlasting stars from the 
beginning, as well as afterward written in divers 
forms and languages on perishable parchment ? 
The early world certainly had a revelation of Gos¬ 
pel truth, whether they hung it on the stars or 
not. 

Of course, nothing contrary to the written Word 
is to be admitted as matter of faith, whether from 
the pictures in the starry heavens or from any 
other source. We cannot so much as know that 
these pictures set forth the Gospel, except as they 
accord with the written Word. But when men 
deny the inspiration of the written record, and 
seek to empty it of its sublimest substance by their 
miserable rationalizing, it is a transcendent gain 
and advantage, in which every genuine believer 
should rejoice with thankfulness, to be able to 
point to a duplicate record of precisely the same 
glorious things, in quite another form, and in place 
and time where nothing but the special inspiration 


NO CHAMPION. 


461 


and illumination of God could have produced it. 
Whether we really have such an earlier duplicate 
of the grand substance of the Gospel in the pri¬ 
meval astronomy can only be decided on the evi¬ 
dences in the case; but it is a super-devotion and 
a very stupid pietism to deplore the finding of 
grounds for such a conviction. 

No Champion for Current Theories. 

A noteworthy fact with regard to the adverse 
notices of this book is, that not one of the writers 
has ventured in any degree to cfiampion or defend 
the current theories respecting the origin and 
meaning of the constellations. Those who have 
had the field and the sway hitherto when put on 
trial have nothing to say. They thus show that 
they secretly feel they have no case against the 
showings of this book. They are in the unpleas¬ 
ant plight of having sanctioned a line of thinking 
which they are at a loss to maintain, and of being 
confronted with a great, heaven-wide, universal 
system, as old as the oldest records of the race, 
and handled every day by all peoples on earth, 
which they are not at all able rationally, historical¬ 
ly, or scientifically to explain; whilst their former 
thinking is assailed and pressed with a new method 
of contemplation so reasonable, so dignified, so 
true to the worthiest records and * traditions, so 
consistent, harmonious, and exhaustive in its ex¬ 
planations of all the multitudinous facts entering 
into the case, that they do not know where or 


462 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

how to attack it, or how to dispose of it without 
a radical revolution in their ways of looking at 
things, to which they are by no means willing to 
submit. 

One writer so feels this embarrassment that he 
has sought a way out by declaiming against “ taking 
the ignorance of everybody as a basis of know¬ 
ledge.” But that will not help him. This book 
does not assert that the constellations are inspired 
prophetic symbols of the promised redemption by 
“ the Seed of the woman,” because nobody can 
tell whence else * r for what else they came into 
being. The whole field is diligently surveyed. 
The entire system as originally constituted is 
searched out and exhibited. The principal myths 
connected with each constellation, as well as the 
figures which mark them, both in themselves and 
in relation to one another, are carefully analyzed. 
The names of the chief stars belonging to each 
group are sought out and interpreted by the light 
of the best linguistic guides. The whole is closely 
compared, section by section, with the statements, 
imagery, and diction of the Holy Scriptures touch¬ 
ing the Author and Work of human redemption. 
A clear and complete correspondence—as clear and 
complete as that between the parables of Christ 
and the spiritual truths they were meant to illustrate 
—is traced out in detail. A vast body of historical, 
scriptural, traditional, and mythical facts- is presented, 
which not only accord with the theory, but largely 
demand it as the only right conclusion from them. 


THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 463 

And there is thus fairly made out a full, legitimate, 
and independent case, which must, in all just logic, 
go through, unless the facts on which it rests can 
be solidly refuted or some equally adequate and 
verifiable explanation of them can be given. Not 
on men’s ignorance is the doctrine of this book 
built, but on evidences which demand to be handled 
as all other testimony when in honest search for the 
truth. Nevertheless, when people avow ignorance 
and inability to make any showing to the contrary, 
their sneers and jeers are to their own discredit 
and shame, and their plea against the presentation 
is itself a disqualification for the giving of any 
judgment in the matter. 

The Southern Cross. 

But the writer last referred to makes one point 
of legitimate attack which, if it could be main¬ 
tained, would be of some weight against the pres¬ 
entations of this book. The following is the state¬ 
ment in full in which this point is made: 

“ Dr. Seiss is not consistent with himself. His 
theory requires him to stick to the ancient signs. 
It is only those that issue from the deep antiquity 
back of the Theban Tables, about which our ignor¬ 
ance is vast enough, to give room to unfold the 
wings of his spacious argument. The unknown- 
prophet theory will not work for constellations whose 
recent origin discloses the fact that there was no 
prophet of any kind in the case. The Southern 
Cross is one of these. The stars that form it are 


464 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


in the heavens, but there is nothing said about the 
constellation in Ptolemy or in the Theban Tables. 
But it is too inviting a constellation for Dr. S. to 
resist the temptation to use it. Accordingly, he 
shifts his ground from the map to the heavens, lets 
the unknown astronomer-prophet who impressed the 
eternal record on the Zodiac go, and proceeds to 
interpolate the Southern Cross into the record on 
its own merits.”— N. Y. Independent , Sept. 7, 1882. 

The author of the above extract also wrote and 
published an attack on The Gospel in the Stars some 
months before it was in print—before he had seen a 
line of it except the statement on the publisher’s 
prospectus. This is mentioned to show with what 
sincerity and earnestness he is concerned to get at 
and set forth the truth on this subject. Still, if he 
finds a fair objection, it is due that it should have a 
fair hearing and be fairly met. 

Now, it is true that the constellation of the South¬ 
ern Cross is designated and used in this book (pp. 
98-104) as the first Decan of Libra , just as the 
Northern Crown is given as the third Decan of the 
same sign; but it is not true that either the one or 
the other, or any constellation used in this attempted 
reading of the stars, belongs to those fabrications of 
conceit, flattery, and self-will which, in more recent 
times, have been thrust into the celestial charts. 

It is also true that the Southern Cross, as a 
separate constellation, does not appear in the list 
of Hipparchus repeated in the Almagest of Ptolemy, 
and that it came for the first time into modern atlases 


THE SOUTHERN CROSS. 


465 


in Royer’s Celestial Chart, published in 1679, whence 
it has been erroneously ascribed to him as his own 
invention. These facts had not been overlooked, 
and it is a very superficial acquaintance with the 
history of the matter which would take them as 
proving this constellation one of those which have 
been obtruded into the - celestial maps in modern 
times. 

The reason why it does not appear in the list of 
Hipparchus and Ptolemy is obvious. That list was 
intended to give only what was verified by practical 
observation, and none of the constellations are in¬ 
cluded but such as the makers of it could see and 
identify in the heavens. But the Southern Cross 
in their day had sunk by the precession of the 
equinox so far into the south as to be scarcely 
visible any more from the latitudes in which their 
observations were made. Some of the stars of the 
Southern Cross are embraced in the list, as they 
could then be seen hanging low down on the 
southern horizon; but the constellation, as such, 
was invisible, and so its higher stars, which could 
be seen, were assigned to the constellation Centan - 
ms, immediately over the Southern Cross, while the 
Southern Crown was put in to fill out the tradi¬ 
tional number in place of the Cross, which these 
observers could not find. 

It is plain, however, that the Southern Crown— 
Corona Australis —was not one of the great old 
original forty-eight signs. It is far inferior to any 
one of them, having no star above the fifth magni- 


4 66 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


tude, and no meaning anywhere to be discovered. 
It is totally destitute of all mythological place, 
history, or tradition. It is situated near where the 
Southern Cross was expected to be, and because 
that could not be found and identified, this seeming 
Crown was substituted for it, and the Cross dropped 
out as mythic and having no real existence. None 
of the authorities on the primeval constellations 
mention it, and Aspin says it is an invention of 
the later times. 

Ptolemy himself also confesses that in the tables 
and charts presented by him liberties were taken 
to change figures and the places of stars in them. 
He says: 

“ Multis ego in locus accommodatiora ipsis figu- 
ris attribuentes vocabula, priscorum usum immu- 
tavimus, sicut, verbi gratia, figuras quas Hipparchus 
in humeris Virginis locat, nos in costis ejus sitas 
esse dicimus, quoniam distantia earum ad Stellas 
quae in capite sunt major apparet, quam ad eas quae 
in extrematibus manuum collocantur, hoc autem 
sicut et costis accomodatur.” 

Two things appear from this statement. The 
one is that, for aesthetic reasons, changes were made 
in the figures, etc. of the constellations, and hence 
that we are not to look to these charts as faithfully 
presenting in full all the old forms of the astro¬ 
nomical signs. The other is of still more conse¬ 
quence touching the point in question, and that is, 
the clear and distinct acknowledgment that neither 
he nor Hipparchus were the inventors of these 


THE CROSS AN ANCIENT SIGN. 


467 


signs, and that a system of them, covering the 
whole visible heavens, existed, and was held to be 
of unquestioned authority, unknown origin, and 
unsearchable antiquity in his day. Whether, there¬ 
fore, the Southern Cross belongs to the ancient 
forty-eight constellations or not cannot be deter¬ 
mined from its absence from the Ptolemaic tables, 
as that can argue nothing for or against the asser¬ 
tion that it does so belong, apart from other show¬ 
ings. 

The Cross one of the Ancient Signs. 

Other and more decisive showings, however, are 
not wanting. Ulugh Beigh, about two centuries 
before Royer, Aben Ezra, about four centuries be¬ 
fore Royer, and Albumazer, about eight centuries 
before Royer, all three give this south polar con¬ 
stellation as named and designated in the most 
ancient astronomy as one of the Decans of Libra. 
Albumazer and Aben Ezra give it with the accom¬ 
panying statement that, according to the old tradi¬ 
tions and accounts, it was in the form of a cross. 
They likewise give its name as Adorn , which means 
cutting off , the boundary , the lowest limit , as the last 
letter of the old Oriental alphabets was tan, and 
always written in the form of the cross. Ulugh 
Beigh also gives its name in the old Coptic, where 
he says it was called Sera, which Birch says means 
victory , triumph by a great conflict. All this quite 
agrees with the death of “ the Seed of the woman ” 
on the cross. 


468 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


Unlike Hipparchus and Ptolemy, these men were 
not giving the constellations as then to be seen and 
identified on the heavens, but as handed down in 
the most ancient astronomical traditions. If they 
had been describing from their own observations, 
they would also have had to omit the Southern 
Cross from their charts, for it was not visible in 
their days in their latitudes, and will not be again 
for thousands of years, until it comes around to its 
ancient place by the completion of the precessional 
cycle. They spoke from the ancient records and 
traditions, which it was their aim to present, and 
they all claim to give faithfully and truly what had 
thus been transmitted from the earliest times. Chris¬ 
tians they were not, neither had they any liking for 
Christianity, and there is nothing whatever to induce 
suspicion that they did not report the facts as they 
found them. 

These authorities ought to be sufficient upon the 
point; but it is not all to indicate that the constel¬ 
lation of the Southern Cross has come down “ from 
the deep antiquity back of the Theban Tables.” 

Calculating back on the precessional cycle for the 
position of this sign in the period when these signs 
were invented, we find that it was then conspicuous¬ 
ly visible in all the north temperate zone at a con¬ 
siderable elevation, rendering it nearly as conspicuous 
as Orion now. It is made up of four of the most 
brilliant stars in the south polar heavens. Another 
so lustrous a group is not to be found in all that 
field of sky. The pre-eminent glory and remark- 


THE CROSS AN ANCIENT SIGN 


469 


able lustre of this group, as then visible from the 
banks of the Euphrates and that region, put it out 
of the question that it could or would have been 
overlooked or left out in the making up of any 
complete system, intended for any purpose, em¬ 
bracing all the most illustrious stars then and 
there visible. And yet it must have been thus 
overlooked and left out if we are to discredit the 
clear traditional record of its having been one of 
the original forty-eight constellations. 

Standing as it then did at about sixteen degrees 
above the horizon at meridian, it gradually sunk 
toward the south pole, until its highest star was 
last visible in the latitude of Jerusalem about the 
time the Saviour reached the lowest limit of His 
passion and yielded up His life upon the cross. 
It cannot be seen now except in latitudes far down 
to the southward. 

When Americus Vespucius was on his southern 
voyages, more than a hundred years before Royer’s 
chart was made, and his eyes beheld the brilliant 
stars of the Southern Cross, he congratulated him¬ 
self on having rediscovered what had been for so 
many ages lost except to myjhic fable, and boasted 
of having seen what had not been seen by civilized 
man till then except by the first of the human race. 
He it was who pointed out in Dante’s Purgatorio 
that remarkable passage, which he claimed to be 
a description of the Southern Cross: 

“ To the right I turned, and fixed my mind 
On the other pole attentive, when I saw 


40 


4;o 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


Four stars ne’er seen before save by the ken 
Of our first parents. Heaven of their rays 
Seemed joyous. O thou northern site ! bereft 
Indeed, and widowed, since of these deprived!” 

Cary’s Dante , Purg., canto i. 

Ventura wonders at this description, particularly 
as the Southern Cross, to which the words and al¬ 
lusions so admirably fit, had not yet been rediscov¬ 
ered in Dante’s time. But Cary very properly sug¬ 
gests that “from long tradition the real truth might 
not have been unknown to our poet;” and adds 
that M. Artaud mentions a globe constructed by 
an Arabian in Egypt, with the date of the year 622 
of the Hegira (corresponding to 1225 of our era), 
in which the Southern Cross is positively marked.” 
Von Humboldt thinks he also saw this constella¬ 
tion on Arabian globes. It certainly was not trans¬ 
ferred from Royer’s chart to these globes, though 
Royer may have incorporated it from some Orien¬ 
tal source or tradition, confirmed as it had become 
in his day by various navigators and travellers who 
had looked upon it and found it to be a reality and 
not a mere myth. 

Dupuis also gives as an ancient tradition that 
this south polar constellation was lost, and that 
whensoever it would again be found it would be 
found to be in the form of a cross. 

Albumazer, in his enumeration of the Decans, 
including the Southern Cross, says, “ They were 
known all over the world,” and considered of sa¬ 
cred prophetic significance. 


THE CROSS AN ANCIENT SIGN. 471 

Humboldt refers to the fact that the ancient 
Persians celebrated a feast of the cross a few days 
before the sun entered Aries , which was the time 
of year when the Southern Cross was highest and 
most brilliant in their skies. He also speaks of the 
modern Persians, Kaswini, and Mohammedan as¬ 
tronomers as searching for crosses in the signs of 
the Dolphin and the Dragon (the Southern Cross 
having disappeared below the southern horizon), in 
order to account for this ancient sacred festival. 
Restore that constellation to its ancient position 
and all is adequately explained, as well as the 
uses made of the sign of the cross and its asso¬ 
ciations and significations in the mythologies of 
ancient Egypt, India, Mexico, and of other primi¬ 
tive peoples. 

According to Albumazer, the Persians called this 
Decan of Libra by the name of Arbedi , which car¬ 
ries with it the sense of covering , and so would 
wonderfully well coincide with the purpose of the 
death upon the cross accomplished in the fulness 
of time by the Virgin-born Redeemer predicted 
and promised from the foundation of the world. 

From all this it is made amply evident that the 
author of this book does not at all “ shift his 
ground” when taking in the Southern Cross as 
part of the grand evangelic record inscribed upon 
the heavens, and that he does not “ interpolate ” the 
primeval constellations, but gives them in their un¬ 
mutilated intergrity, when he gives the Southern 
Cross as one of them. 


472 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


Dr. Seyffarth. 

One writer speaks disparagingly of the author 
of this book for “ taking Seyffarth as his guide in 
Egyptology.” The assertion, however, has not 
the slightest foundation in fact. Dr. Seyffarth’s 
astronomically-founded opinion on the age of the 
Zodiac (p. 59), and his curious presentation of the 
astronomical reference in the placement and order 
of the letters in the alphabet (p. 63), are referred 
to, but these particulars are no essential part of the 
argument. They are only coincident with it. Dr. 
Seyffarth is not the basis or “ guide ” for any 
Egyptological facts or doctrines cited, or for any¬ 
thing else vitally entering into the presentations 
of this book, although he is no mean authority in 
matters of archaeological science and astronomical 
calculations. He has done more solid work per¬ 
haps than three-fourths of the men of whom more 
general notice is taken. Here is an extract from 
the London Times (Dec. 31, 1859) which may 
serve to show that he is no fool in these things : 

“ Professor Mitchell in his lectures on astronomy 
said that not long since he had met in the city of 
St. Louis, in Missouri, a man of great scientific at¬ 
tainments who for forty years had been engaged 
in Egypt deciphering the hieroglyphics of the an¬ 
cients. This gentleman stated to him that he had 
lately unravelled the inscriptions on the coffin of a 
mummy now in the British Museum, and that by 
the aid of previous observation he had discovered 


LANGUAGE AND WRI TING. 


473 


the key to all the astronomical knowledge of the 
Egyptians. The Zodiac, with the exact position 
of the planets, was delineated on the coffin, and the 
date to which they pointed was the autumnal equi¬ 
nox in the year b. c. 1722, or nearly four thousand 
years ago. Professor Mitchell employed his assist¬ 
ants to ascertain the exact position of the heavenly 
bodies belonging to our solar system on the equinox 
of that year, 1722 b. c., without having communicated 
his object in so doing; the calculations were made, 
and, to his astonishment, on comparing the work 
with the statements of his friend already referred 
to, it was found that on the 7th of October, 1722 
b. c., the moon and planets had occupied the exact 
positions in the heavens marked upon the coffin in 
the British Museum.” 

This gentleman, so tested and complimented by 
Professor Mitchell, was none other than G. Seyffarth, 
Ph. D., D. D., quoted in this book, and so unwar¬ 
rantably sneered at by the Boston Literary World. 

The Origin of Language and Writing. 

Another writer argues that the author of this 
book is quite innocent of “ recent researches in 
philology and palaeontology,” and shows “ a very 
primitive faith ” in coolly asserting that language 
and writing are as old as the human family. It is 
hard to tell what this assailant means, unless he be 
a believer in what Carlyle calls “the Gospel of 
dirt,” which considers man a sort of natural evolu¬ 
tion from slime and slimy things through all stages 


474 


THE GOSPEL IN' THE STARS. 


of reptilian, animal, and savage life in successive 
unknown and unknowable ages. If so, the great 
difference between him and this book is, that it 
appeals to positive facts, records, and memorials 
(see Lect. xvi., on “ Primeval Man ”), whilst he 
rests on a conceit of agnosticism which has not 
one positive fact to which to appeal that can at all 
be admitted as legitimate proof of what he avers 
and accepts. 

The Bible and all records and traditions of primi¬ 
tive man attest the beginning of our race with Adam, 
and show that he was the most divinely favored and 
the most perfect,, intelligent, and divine man that 
ever did live, save the second Adam, the glorious 
“ Seed of the woman,” the great Redeemer of 
the world. 

There is evidence that Adam spoke and was 
spoken to, and that things he said and that were 
said to him were preserved and made matters of 
transmission to subsequent generations. Then cer¬ 
tainly there was language from the beginning— 
language fixed and comprehensible to others be¬ 
sides himself, the same as language now. To deny 
this is to contradict the whole record. He did not 
learn this language from parents or contemporaries, 
for they did not exist. It necessarily was the gift 
of God, immediate and direct. Fix it as we will, 
it was a miracle, the same as his own being. And 
if God gave Adam the use of spoken language, it 
was a mere fraction of the wonderful endowment 
to give also the idea and means of writing what 


LANGUAGE AND WRITING. 


475 


he could speak and so well understood. The very 
supernatural enlightenment which gave him the 
intelligent use of language was itself sufficient to 
suggest to him the writing of it and the making 
of records of it—the representation of it to the eye 
as well as to the ear. 

We know that Adam called things by names, 
and those names described the true nature and 
qualities of the things to which they were applied. 
What he called them they were and were called. 
Here was at once the highest science, and the fixed 
linguistic embodiment of that science. The heaven¬ 
ly bodies came before him the san\e as creatures and 
objects on the earth. He must therefore have named 
them also, and named them as truly as he named 
other things. Something of astronomy would thus 
necessarily be born of him. And the evidence now 
amounts next thing to demonstration that the Zo¬ 
diac, the constellations, and the naming and designa¬ 
tions of the principal objects displayed in the heav¬ 
ens date back to Adam’s time. In this we have re¬ 
corded pictorial and vocable language, and connect¬ 
ed with a perfection of astronomic science which 
remains as the true and indestructible basis of all 
that we possess in that department even to this 
present. How, then, can it be questioned that 
both language and writing existed in Adam’s 
time ? 

All “the recent researches in philology and pa¬ 
laeontology ” go to confirm the Bible doctrine on 
this subject; and that doctrine, as old John Weemes 


476 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

has drawn it out (in the second part of his Christian 
Synagogue , 1633),is, that “God made Adam to have 
perfect knowledge, both of God and His creatures 
“ Man in his first estate had the first principles 
created in him of all sciences and liberal arts, 
whereby he might understand the nature of the 
creatures here below, and so learn by them. As 
he was the father of all living, so he was the father 
of all science; for as he was able to beget children, 
so he was able to teach his posterity“ He had 
the knowledge of all things that might be known 
“Adam knew as much as was in the creatures 
“ Man in his innocent estate excelled all that ever 
were in the knowledge of natural things“ He 
had the knowledge of all the liberal sciences 
“Adam knew all arts and sciences; therefore Phil¬ 
osophy is not an invention of the heathen, for it 
came first from Adam to the Patriarchs, and so hath 
continued still ” (pp. 91-96). 

All this necessarily involved the use of language 
—how to speak it, how to embody thought in it, 
how to represent it to the eye as well as to the 
ear, and hence how to make records of it. We 
know positively, from the inscriptions on stones, 
tiles, cylinders, and seals recently exhumed in Chal¬ 
dea and Assyria, that alphabetic writing, engraving, 
and the preservation of knowledge in phonetic signs 
not only existed, but were in a high state of cul¬ 
tivation and common use, full two thousand years 
before Christ, and date back close to, if not within, 
the lifetime of Noah. Some of these exhumations 


LANGUAGE AND WRITING. 


4 77 


are parts of dictionaries, grammars, and presenta¬ 
tions with regard to the science of language, as 
well as accounts of the Creation, of the facts in 
the earliest history of the race, of the Zodiac and 
its accompanying circles of other constellations, of 
the Flood and the Babel disaster, of the forms of 
agreement and contract respecting lands and chat¬ 
tels, and the recording of them as well as elaborate 
poems. And with this demonstration before our 
eyes, and these records in tangible and readable 
form in our possession from such indisputable an¬ 
tiquity, there is no escape from the conclusion that 
alphabetic writing dates back to the lifetime of 
Noah, and that, existing and employed in his 
day, it must have come with him from the other 
side of the Flood. Noah lived and conversed with 
Methuselah, and Methuselah lived and conversed 
with Adam; so that there was but one lifetime 
between Noah and Adam. And if Noah used al¬ 
phabetic writing, as we may be sure he did, then 
there is every reason to believe that he brought 
it from the time of Methuselah, who lived before 
the death of Adam, from whom all the race has 
most likely received it, as he, through his pre-emi¬ 
nent illumination, from God. 

The learned George Stanley Faber, in the second 
volume of his Origin of Pagan Idolatry , devotes a 
chapter (v.) to the many, widespread, and almost 
universal early traditions of certain sacred books 
and writings made by the antediluvian Patriarchs, 
and one way and another preserved during the 


478 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


Flood for the instruction of the descendants of 
those elected to survive it. He thinks these tradi¬ 
tions certainly traceable to a period anterior to the 
building of the Tower of Babel, and that they attest 
a common belief at that time in the existence of 
writings as old as, or even older than, the Deluge— 
a belief which could hardly have found entrance 
into men’s minds if there had been no basis of 
truth at the bottom of it. There must have been 
writing then, or there could have been no thought 
of writing done before the Flood ; and if there was 
writing then, there is every reason to conclude that 
there was writing from the beginning, and that it 
came to the first man from God among the rest 
of his equipments for the commencement of a high, 
civilized, and perfect human society and life. 

And with all this before us we ought to be pre¬ 
pared to have some respect to Dr. Seyffarth’s sum¬ 
mation of the results of modern archaeological in¬ 
vestigations when he says : “ It is currently main¬ 
tained that our alphabet was not invented until 1500 
b. c. by the Phoenicians; now, it has been clearly 
proved that there have existed an alphabet and books 
since the time of Seth, more that a thousand years be¬ 
fore the Deluge; that all the alphabets in the world 
had their origin from one and the same primitive 
alphabet; that our alphabet was transmitted through 
Noah, and so arranged as to express the places of 
the seven planets in the Zodiac at the termination 
of the Deluge.—According to a very generally 
received opinion, the hieroglyphics of the Egyp- 


LANGUAGE AND WRITING. 479 

tians or the cuneiform characters of the Persians, 
Medes, and Assyrians were the first of all written 
characters ; now it is ascertained that all these and 
similar written characters have the Noachian alpha¬ 
bet of twenty-five letters for their basis.-—Hitherto 
a great number of Indo-maniacs have maintained 
that the original language had been the Indo-Ger- 
manic, a sort of Sanskrit; now it is known that all 
the languages in the world are derived from the 
old Hebrew original language, as the very names 
of the antediluvian letters among the different na¬ 
tions, and the language of the ancient Egyptians, 
prove.—According to Letronne and others, our Zo¬ 
diac had its origin only five hundred years before 
Christ; now we know that it is as old as the human 
race , and that it passed through Noah to all the 
nations of his posterity.—Hitherto it has been sup¬ 
posed that the earliest and innumerable astronomi¬ 
cal observations of the ancient Egyptians, referred 
to 4 already by Diodorus Siculus, had utterly disap¬ 
peared from the sphere of human knowledge; now 
we know that several hundreds of them, extending 
down to the Roman emperors and back to Menes, 
2781 b. c., have been preserved upon the Pyramids, 
in temples, on sarcophagi, stellae, and papyrus- 
scrolls.” (See his Summary of Recent Discoveries , 
New York, 1857.) 

It may also be added, in passing, that an enor¬ 
mous ship, greater than the Great Eastern, was 
built before the Flood. It was one hundred and 
twenty years in building. It served to weather the 


480 the gospel in the stars. 

turbulence of an ocean world. But how was it 
possible practically to carry out the work of con¬ 
structing such a vessel without the use of a fixed 
system of measures, or without the use of figures, 
drawings, and an established and comprehensible 
order of notations which the workmen could read 
and refer to ? Will those who deny the existence 
of writing before the Flood give the solution of the 
problem ? The successful building of such a struc¬ 
ture is itself a demonstration that Noah could write 
and that the antediluvians could read. 

Science and the Constellations. 

The question has been put: “ If this theory be 
true, how is it that the inspiration does not fit in 
with the Copernican centre instead of the Ptole¬ 
maic ?” It has also been objected that “ the in¬ 
disputable facts of science are obstacles to such a 
belief as that of Dr. S.—obstacles which he has 
scarcely made an attempt to overcome, and to which 
he is very likely indifferent.” 

It may be laid down as an ethical axiom that no 
man has the right to be indifferent to “ indisputable 
facts,” whether of science, religion, or the common 
affairs of life. Nor is the author of this book in¬ 
different to any “ facts of science ” having in them 
the element of settled truth. But no such facts 
are known to him to impose a bar to the acceptance 
of his explanation of the origin and meaning of the 
ancient constellations, or to negative the astronomy 
on which they are based. Any objection to be 


SCIENCE AND THE CONSTELLATIONS. 481 

raised on the ground here indicated can be raised 
with equal force against the Scriptures and against 
the popular almanacs which modern science itself 
puts forth for the use of mankind, and which are 
accepted on all hands. The astronomy of the an¬ 
cient constellations is all embraced in the astronomy 
of to-day, and belongs to the fixed verities of that 
noble science. There is nothing in the astronomy 
of the primitive constellations at variance with the 
truths of the so-called Copernican system, or else 
it would be impossible for the Copernicans of to¬ 
day to accept and embody it in their science, as 
they all do. Neither is there anything in this 
primitive record to identify it with the elaborate 
and exploded errors of the Ptolemaic system, or 
any other which failed to accept the present doc¬ 
trine of centres of gravitation and that the earth 
and planets revolve around our sun. And if it notes 
the sun as one of the exalted travellers that seem to 
move across the face of the sky, and to connect no¬ 
tations with these apparent motions, it is in full 
accord with universal observation, with all the al¬ 
manacs, with the diction of the Bible, and with the 
ordinary statements of astronomers themselves. We 
all accept the same in our common language every 
day. Although we know the scientific facts, that 
does not alter the appearances to the eye or our 
way of speaking, or furnish a basis for any better 
popular representation. Only for the sake of the 
manifestation to the eye of the beholder is the sun 
thus numbered with the other travellers in the pic- 
41 2 F 


482 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

torlal readings attached to the heavenly orbs. And 
it is the only way, indeed, in which the sun can be 
used for such a purpose, no matter what the scien¬ 
tific facts may be. 

Neither does such a notation of the apparent 
motions of the sun to an earthly beholder argue 
ignorance of the real astronomical truth. It is a 
great error to suppose that no true knowledge of 
the real structure of the solar system or of the 
universe existed before the time of Pythagoras, 
Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton. On this 
point hear the testimony of Sir William Drum¬ 
mond. 

“The fact is certain” says he, “that at some re¬ 
mote period there were mathematicians and astron¬ 
omers who knezv that the sun is in the centre of our 
system , and that the earth, itself a planet, revolves 
around the central fire; who attempted to calculate 
the return of comets; who indicated the number 
of solar years contained in the great cycle by 
multiplying a period (variously called in the Zend, 
the Sanskrit, and the Chinese, Ven, Van, and Phen) 
of one hundred and thirty years by another of 
one hundred and forty years ; who took the paral¬ 
lax of the sun by a method superior to that of 
Hipparchus, and little inferior to our own; who 
fixed with considerable accuracy the distance of 
the moon and the circumference of the earth; who 
held that the face of the moon was diversified with 
vales and mountains; who asserted that there was 
a planet beyond Saturn; who reckoned the planets 


SCIENCE AND THE CONSTELLATIONS. 483 

to be sixteen in number; and who calculated the 
length of the tropical year within three minutes of 
the true time. All the authorities for these asser¬ 
tions are stated in my Essay on the Science of the 
Egyptians and Chaldeans. 

“ There is nothing, then, improbable in the report 
of Josephus when he says that the descendants of 
Seth were skilful astronomers, and seems to ascribe 
to them the invention of the cycle of which Cassini 
has developed the excellence. The Jews, Assyrians, 
and Arabians have abundance of traditions concern¬ 
ing the antediluvian astronomical knowledge, espe¬ 
cially of Adam, Seth, Enoch, and Ham. It was 
asserted in the book of Enoch, as Origen tells us, 
that the constellations in the time of that patriarch 
were already named and divided. The Arabians 
say that they have named Enoch Edris y on account 
of his learning. 

“That the invention of the Zodiac ought to be 
attributed to the antediluvians may appear to some 
a rash and idle conjecture; but I shall not renounce 
this conjecture merely because it may startle those 
who never thought of it before. Tradition has told 
several of the Oriental nations that the antediluvians 
were eminently skilled in astronomy; and tradition 
has generally some foundation in truth. When 
Bailly undertook to write the history of astronomy, 
he found at the outset certain fragments of science 
which proved to him the existence of a system in 
some remote age and anterior to all regular history, 
if we except the fragment in the book of Genesis. 


4§4 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


As all the emblems in the similarly divided Zodiacs 
of India, Chaldea, Bactria, Arabia, Egypt are nearly 
alike, it would seem they had followed some com¬ 
mon model; and to whom should we attribute its 
invention but to their common ancestors ?” ( On the 

Zodiacs of Esne and Denderah, pp. 38-40.) 

Drummond was once a skeptic. In his earlier 
work, CEdipits Judaicus , he treated the Scriptures 
with much disrespect. But when he came to search 
into the originals of' human history and science, and 
to investigate the remains of early antiquity, he came 
to the convictions above expressed, and in the essay 
quoted gives full confidence to the biblical records. 
And the conclusions to which he came respecting 
the mathematical and astronomical knowledge of the 
ancients have since his time received abundant con¬ 
firmation. 

Goodsir, in his Homilies on Ethnic Inspiration y 
takes the ground that, as it is unnatural and rash 
to suppose that God never taught any of the human 
race, nor led any of them to see, during those early 
generations, the scientific truth respecting these won¬ 
drous creations of His own that shine in the heavens, 
so there is solid reason to believe that some were so 
led, and were taught ^/^-scientifically those things, 
and that there is proof of it now which all who are 
willing to investigate will find as clear as the noon¬ 
day sun. 

One part of this proof he finds in the great Pyra¬ 
mid of Egypt, the first, greatest, most perfect, and 
most scientific building now upon the face of the 


SCIENCE AND THE CONSTELLATIONS. 485 

earth, and constructed certainly more than four 
thousand years ago. By the scientific labors of 
many within the last twenty years it has been as¬ 
certained and clearly demonstrated that there is in 
the measures, pointings, form, and features of that 
great primeval monument, whosoever built it and 
for whatever purpose, a massive and indestructible 
stone memorial of a complete and faultless know¬ 
ledge of the structure of the universe, of the exact 
and physical sciences both terrestrial and cosmical, 
a determination of a perfect system of weights and 
measures scientifically conformed to what the Opifex 
Mundi fixed in things when he fetched a compass 
round the worlds and weighed the hills in balances. 
Scientific investigation on the part of different men 
competent to the task have made it clear that there 
is built into that edifice a record of the condition of 
the starry heavens at the time of its erection which 
gives its age by astronomy in full accord with all 
external indications and evidences; also a record of 
the size, form, and weight of the earth and its rela¬ 
tion to and distance from the sun, the true length 
of the solar year, the number of years in the pre- 
cessional cycle, the average temperature of the hab¬ 
itable world, together with multitudinous cosmical 
facts and mathematical formulas and proportions no 
better told by any science now existing among men. 
Nay, more, says this author: “ The unquestionable 
and remarkable coincidences between the structure 
of the Great Pyramid and astronomical facts find an 
exact place amongst, and give consistency and form 
41 * 


486 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


to, what may be called a collection of astronomical 
and physical traditions, the whole of which, in the 
result, corroborates the standard chronology and 
history of the race.” (See my book, A Miracle in 
Stone.) 

The demonstration is thus before our eyes, open 
to every one’s examination, that there was a true 
scientific astronomy anterior to Herodotus, the fa¬ 
ther of modern history, and before Hesiod and Ho¬ 
mer, which took the Zodiac and the constellations 
as an essential part of it, whose teachers and pro¬ 
fessors were no more Ptolemists or Jasperites than 
the Newtons and Herschels of modern times, and 
who possessed, and could architecturally embody 
for the reading of the long after ages, as pure and 
sound a knowledge of the heavens as any who have 
lived since our astronomy has cast off the swaddling- 
clothes of its babyhood. The evidence is here that 
those who invented the constellations and made the 
most of them, and noted the apparent motions of 
the sun with other travellers of the circuit of the 
heavens, were as good Copernicans as Copernicus 
himself thousands of years before Copernicus was 
born, and who were favored with a vastly broader 
and deeper insight into the economy of the universe 
than Copernicus ever dreamed of. No power or in¬ 
telligence of man to-day can convict them of igno¬ 
rance in any point as to any “ indisputable facts of 
science.” Their work has come down to us through 
long intervening ages of darkness, superstition, and 
apostasy, so superior to the after intelligence of the 


THE BIBLE AND THE CONSTELLATIONS. 487 

race that it was no longer in human power so much 
as to understand it until the advances made within 
the last few centuries. And just in proportion as 
solid science grows and comes to fixed results do 
these primeval lights loom up as the very kings of 
mind, whose sublime comprehension of Jehovah’s 
works we are only beginning to approximate. In 
five thousand years the world has not been able to 
go beyond them in these matters. They knew “ the 
indisputable facts of science,” and with that science 
and to that science they framed the constellations, 
whatever else they meant to record by the names, 
figures, and explanations which they attached to 
them as they present themselves to human obser¬ 
vation. 


The Bible and the Constellations. 

One reviewer just quoted makes the further point: 
“ If these constellations, in their names, etc., with all 
their mythological associations, mean what the au¬ 
thor claims for them, how strange that we have no 
intimation of it in the Scriptures!” 

This exclamation is meant to indicate an argument, 
but it is an argument which makes unwarranted as¬ 
sumptions, and rests on a non sequitur for its conclu¬ 
sions. If there were no mention at all of the constel¬ 
lations in the Bible, that silence might perhaps still 
admit of explanation, and, whether explainable or 
not, it still would not follow that inspired men had 
nothing to do with them. But it is not true that the 
Scriptures are totally silent touching the existence, 


488 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


origin, intent, and meaning of the constellations, as 
will presently be shown, although direct biblical allu¬ 
sions to the subject are not numerous. 

Approaching the matter solely from the side of 
what we rest on as the record of all that God has 
revealed concerning His plan of grace, it is natural 
to feel a little surprise that the Bible does not more 
appeal to and rest on the older record of the same 
things in the constellations. But a closer contem¬ 
plation of the peculiarities of the case shows that we 
should not be thus surprised even though the theory 
of this book be thoroughly and unmistakably true. 

It must be remembered that all the books of the 
Bible, with the exception of the book of Job, were 
primarily and most immediately intended for the 
children of Israel, as the giving of these books was 
exclusively to and through that people. The entire 
calling and mission of Israel, its peculiar and em¬ 
phatic segregation from all other peoples, and its 
special training and development for a particular 
purpose in the divine plan, thus necessarily come 
into the question and furnish an important element 
in reaching a correct answer to it. Whatever might 
tend to obscure or diminish the broad lines of sepa¬ 
ration between Israel and the other portions of the 
human family, was against the call of Abraham, and 
hence was to be avoided by all true Israelites. In 
every possible direction we observe the utmost pre¬ 
caution to keep Israel in complete isolation. Not 
only in religious observances, but in the entire law, 
ceremonial, civil, domestic, even to the minute details 


THE BIBLE AND THE CONS TELL A TIONS. 489 

of dietetics, there was a studied fencing off of this 
people from all other inhabitants of the earth. The 
observance of these laws, the worth of which in some 
instances cannot otherwise be traced, was the test of 
their loyalty. Nothing in common with the rest 
of the world was regarded with favor or could law¬ 
fully be. 

Now, it is a matter of scriptural record that there 
was a primeval revelation of the Gospel made to man 
immediately after the Fall. It must have been a 
very clear and full revelation, or it could not have 
sufficed for the comfort and saving of the early patri¬ 
archs. The New Testament is specific in telling us 
that there were inspired prophets from the very 
foundation of the world, and that what they taught 
and prophesied was precisely that which has been 
or is yet to be fulfilled in and through Christ. (See 
Luke 1 : 69, 70 and Acts 3 : 21.) This Gospel neces¬ 
sarily went abroad with the multiplication of the 
race, first through all the antediluvian generations, 
and then through and from Noah to all his descend¬ 
ants. Above all, if the first prophets—Adam, Seth, 
and Enoch—did connect the truths of the primitive 
revelation with astronomy, and hung the full record 
of the Gospel promise upon the stars by means of 
the pictures and names in the constellations, it neces¬ 
sarily was the common possession of all the early 
nations, as we find from the traditions and records 
which have been preserved that the constellations 
were. There was then what we might call the prim¬ 
itive Ethnic Revelation—the original divine Gospel 


490 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


—whose line went out through all the earth for all 
people alike. 

Through the working of the depravity, perverse¬ 
ness, and consequent deterioration of the descend¬ 
ants of Noah that Gospel became greatly obscured 
and lost. Even the records and illustrations of it 
which the ancient prophets had inscribed upon the 
sky, through the evil genius of Nimrod and the 
seductions of the great enemy of souls had become 
almost universally prostituted to idolatry and degrad¬ 
ing superstition, just as the brazen serpent, which 
Moses made by divine direction, was prostituted 
among the Israelites. Sabaism, the worship of the 
figures of the constellations, and the turning of these 
celestial signs into instruments of fortune-telling and 
an impious astrology, had arisen upon what holy 
hands by sacred impulse had connected with the 
stars as God’s promise of salvation through the 
Seed of the woman. The very sacredness of the 
thing was a power to help on the accursed perver¬ 
sion. And thus in the wisdom and goodness of 
God it was ordained to select and train a separate 
and distinct people to be the depository of a re-enun¬ 
ciation of His plan and promises of grace, and out 
of whom to develop the chosen Servant of God who 
was to bring the great salvation. That people was 
Israel, and that Servant, the inmost centre of Israel, 
was the Christ. 

In this new start of the kingdom of God it was 
needless—and would have really been a weakening 
of the whole procedure—to appeal to the old ethnic 


THE BIBLE AND THE CONSTELLATIONS. 491 

records, which had become so abused and perverted 
to that very state of things which the new start was 
meant to offset and remedy. It was enough to take 
the old promise as it had been given at the first, to 
recognize the prophetic character of those to whom 
it was given, and who found in it their hope and 
their salvation, and to reannounce and re-embody 
that promise in special forms among a people chosen 
and separated for the purpose. And just this is what 
was done, in which there was no occasion whatever 
to make appeal to what the heathen had, and had so 
terribly perverted, or to mix up the common posses¬ 
sion of the world with the training of a people called 
to be separate in all things from all others. As we 
cannot conceive of Christ enforcing His teachings 
by appealing to the sayings and opinions of heathen 
sages who lived before Him, however true they may 
have been, and as we would feel it strange if Moses 
had sought to intensify faith in his laws and precepts 
by showing that they accorded with " all the wisdom 
of the Egyptians/’ so it would have been incongru¬ 
ous in the Israelitish prophets to appeal to the Chal¬ 
dean astronomers to supplement or support their 
predictions of “ the sufferings of Christ and the glory 
that should follow/' however truly the same things 
may have been set forth in the constellations. 

The Jewish people were, moreover, so prone to 
take up with the worst idolatries of the nations 
around them, even with all the precautions and 
stern laws to prevent it, that it would have increased 
and facilitated that proclivity had their sacred proph- 


492 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ets mixed up with their instructions any prominent 
references to what was so deeply interwoven with all 
the living idolatries of the time. For this reason it 
perhaps was that, in the Jewish Zodiac, all the figures 
were expunged and the letters of the Hebrew alpha¬ 
bet substituted in their place. It was to guard against 
ethnic idolatries, all of which were more or less con¬ 
nected with the constellations, which the nations had 
utterly perverted from their true meaning and intent. 

The whole condition of things in the general world, 
and the whole intention with regard to the Israelitish 
people, thus come in to show that, however truly the 
Gospel may have been set forth in the original in¬ 
vention of the constellations, it would have been a 
hazardous and very unfitting thing for the Hebrew 
prophets to make their appeal to the ancient astron¬ 
omy, which, by the depravities of men, had become 
the chief foundation of the idolatries, false worships, 
auguries, and astrologies then so dreadfully debas¬ 
ing the entire world around them. 

So far, then, as respects the sacred books issuing 
from the Jewish prophets, there is every reason to 
expect little or no reference to the ethnic records of 
the primeval revelations. The simple absence of any 
condemnation of the constellations, then held sacred 
by all the nations, and so much perverted by them, 
is more marvellous than the absence of appeals to 
them as records of the original promise of a Re¬ 
deemer to come. It argues that in the mind of the 
Spirit there was still some reserve with regard to 
that system as not a thing of mere human invention 


THE BOOK OF JOB . 


493 


or to be denounced with heathenism in general. 
The particular purpose of the call of Israel had no 
special use for that system, and too much regard to 
it would have so militated against that calling that 
the wonder is that the Jewish prophets never once 
assail it or speak one word against it, even while 
burdened with messages of the wrath and punish¬ 
ment of God upon heathenism and idolatry. Had 
that system been nothing but an outgrowth of the 
wild imaginations of man, incorporated as it was 
with the false religions then dominating over all the 
world, it is next thing to impossible to explain why 
it was not pre-eminently singled out for prophetic 
malediction; and any recognition of it at all in the 
prophetic books, as connected with a proper under¬ 
standing of things, is a powerful consideration in 
favor of its prophetic origin and sacred intent. 

The Book of Job. 

The book of Job, however, did not originate with 
the Jewish prophets. It was written before Israel’s 
time and outside of the Israelitish race. Though by 
inspiration adopted into the list of the Hebrew canon 
prepared by the special inspiration of God, it belongs 
to the ethnic records of the primeval revelations, and 
embodies the sacred light and truth of those revela¬ 
tions as received, held, and exemplified in its time 
by the purest and truest of the ethnic believers. It 
is a sort of encyclopaedia of the faith, life, thinking, 
worship, and wisdom of God’s people before Moses 

42 


494 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


and outside of Israel. As an ethnic book divinely- 
inspired we would expect to find in it references to 
whatever belonged to the ethnic records and teach¬ 
ings respecting the true God and the Redeemer that 
was promised, including the system of the constella¬ 
tions, if indeed that system was of primitive prophetic 
origin and meant to record and illustrate the Gospel 
as first revealed to man. In such a book, from such 
a source and age, and with such an object, we would 
certainly expect to find allusions to these frescoes on 
the heavens if they be what is affirmed of them in 
these Lectures. Nay, the absence of such allusions 
here would necessarily argue either that no such 
system as that of the constellations existed in Job’s 
time, or that, if existing, it had nothing whatever to 
to do with the revelations and promises of God. 

In this particular instance the argument suggested 
by our reviewer would apply in full force, and would 
be next thing to conclusive against our theory, if 
there were no intimations in the book of Job as to its 
reality. But what we hardly should expect in the 
Jewish prophets we do find here in this exhibit of 
the pure ethnic faith and piety. At least five of the 
principal constellations are referred to by name in 
the book of Job: 

1. “Arcturus” (Ais/i), which nearly all the best 
commentators, Jewish and Christian, take as denot¬ 
ing the north polar constellation now known under 
the name of Ursa Major , the Great Bear (chaps. 9 : 9 
and 38 : 32). 

2. “Orion” so named by Homer hundreds of years 


THE BOOK OF JOB. 495 

before the time of the earliest Greek philosophers, 
and called Kesil in chaps. 9 : 9 and 38 : 31. 

3. Taurus , by its centre and chief mark, “ThePlei¬ 
ades” (Kimah ), the Seven Stars (chaps. 9 : 9 and 
38 : 32). The Arabians, according to Hafiz, considered 
the Pleiades the seal or seat of immortality. Maedler, 
in modern times, from observations of the motions 
of the so-called “ fixed stars,” has pointed out the 
centre of this group (Alcyone) as the great central 
Sun of the universe, around which all others revolve. 
In all the ancient myths and traditions this group 
of stars plays a most conspicuous part, and is ever 
associated with benignity and blessedness. And 
“ the sweet influences of Pleiades ” are here referred 
to after the same manner, as perhaps embodying the 
universal centre of gravitation as well as ushering in 
the genial spring. 

4. Scorpio , the constellation directly opposite to 
Taurus , described in the English version as “ the 
chambers of the south (chap. 9 : 9). That the refer¬ 
ence is to some asterism of the same sort as the 
three with which it is named it would be arbitrary 
to doubt. Some think it refers to such of the con¬ 
stellations as were hidden below the southern hori¬ 
zon in the time and latitude of Job ; but the definite¬ 
ness in the three preceding references would seem 
to require that we should take this as equally defi¬ 
nite. The mention of a house to the south, over 
against the Pleiades, would call for a particular Zodi¬ 
acal constellation, which would necessarily be Scor¬ 
pio. Aben Ezra, E. S. Poole, and others translate it 


496 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

Scorpio, and so Dr. Hales, Dr. Brinkley, President 
Gouget, and M. Ducoutant take it, and calculate the 
age in which Job lived from these notations. 

5. Hydra , “The Fleeing Serpent” (chap. 26: 13). 
The best interpreters agree that the reference here 
must be to one of the constellations ; and of all the 
stellar serpents there is no one to answer the descrip¬ 
tion so completely as the vast constellation of Hydra. 

This gives two signs of the Zodiac and three other 
constellations. But the Zodiac as a whole, with its 
succession of signs and seasons, is recognized and 
spoken of: “ Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in 
his season?”—in the margin, “ The Twelve Signs.” 
Rosenmiiller, Herder, Umbreit, Gesenius, and many 
others, with the Jewish authors at their head, under¬ 
stood by it nothing more nor less than signa celestia , 
the celestial signs— “The Zodiac .” The word means 
the separated, set apart, divided, apportioned, as the 
spaces given to the twelve signs in the circle of the 
Zodiac, and which mark the successive seasons in 
the year. Selden informs us that in later Jewish 
writings Mazzaloth are the signs of the Zodiac, and 
the singular, Mazzal , is used to denote signs singly. 
Mazzaloth is the same in later Hebrew that Mazza - 
roth was in the more ancient forms. Everything 
about it goes to confirm the rendering in the mar¬ 
gin of our English Bibles, and to prove that the 
Zodiac with its twelve distinct spaces, signs, or 
houses, bringing forward the seasons in their succes¬ 
sion, is what is meant. 

And with the twelve signs of the Zodiac recog- 


THE BOOK OF JOB. 


49 7 


nized, and three of the Decans besides, the whole 
system of the constellations is necessarily implied 
and included, while the entire showing is directly 
associated with the work, majesty, and glory of 
God. 

Nay, the book speaks of a general garnishing of 
the heavens , which would imply that there was a 
dividing off of the whole face of the sky into groups 
and pictures, just as we find in the ancient constella¬ 
tions (see chap. 26 : 13). Barnes finds in this garn¬ 
ishing the “pictures of the heavens , with a somewhat 
fanciful resemblance to animals, etc., one of the most 
early devices of astronomy still continued as aiding 
in the description of the heavenly bodies.” Nor is 
there any adequate reason for taking the reference 
in any other way. 

Thus it clearly appears that the constellations were 
known and determined in Job’s time, and that they 
were well understood and much in view in the sacred 
contemplations of the believers of that age. 

But the record goes still farther. This garnishing 
of the heavens , this grouping of the stars in pictures 
on the face of the sky, is here affirmed and claimed 
to be the work of God Himself by His Spirit. The 
declaration concerning the Lord of Creation and 
Providence is: “ By His Spirit He garnished the 
heavens ; His hand hath formed the crooked [fleeing] 
serpent ” (chap. 26 : 13). There is here the ancient 
poetic parallelism, giving the general statement in 
one line and the repetition of the same in particular 
in the next. The intimation is not that the forming 
42 . 2 a 


498 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


of the fleeing serpent— Hydra —is a thing separate 
and distinct from the garnishing of the heavens, but 
that it is a specimen of that sacred garnishing, that 
we may determine and know from a specific part 
what is the true character of the whole. The sub¬ 
ject is the formation and arrangement of the figures 
of the constellations; and that work is unqualifiedly 
ascribed to the Spirit of God, to prophetic inspira¬ 
tion—the same as the biblical records are ascribed to 
the Holy Ghost. 

This gives us scriptural evidence that the most 
approved and pious of the old ethnic believers con¬ 
sidered and interpreted the constellations as from 
God, and as containing a sacred record of great con¬ 
sequence and worth in connection with their faith 
and hopes. And it is thus more than likely that 
from the stars, as much as from any other records 
and traditions, Job derived that triumphant evangelic 
confidence: “ I know that my Redeemer liveth, and 
that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 
and though after my skin worms destroy this body, 
yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see 
for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not an¬ 
other ; though my reins be consumed within me ” 
(Job 19 : 25-27). 

Now, this book of Job, with these presentations in 
it, has become a part of the canon of Holy Scripture, 
certainly not without inspired sanction. The same 
Spirit which moved the Hebrew prophets has thus 
recognized the ethnic inspiration, and hence also 
these claims with reference to the constellations. It 


THE HEBREW PROPHETS. 


499 


is therefore a false assumption to say that “ we have 
no intimation in the Scriptures ” of what is sought 
to be shown in these Lectures. 

The Hebrew Prophets. 

But even the Hebrew prophets, being moved by 
the same Spirit which was in the ancient ethnic be¬ 
lievers, have not been totally silent touching these 
uses of the stars. The book of Genesis is largely made 
up of early records held to be sacred, distorted frag¬ 
ments of which have come down through all the 
more ancient peoples; and the quotations of those 
records in the foundation-book of the volume of 
inspiration appear in the Bible with precisely the 
same allusions which attend them everywhere else. 

Thus, in the very first chapter of Genesis, in the 
account of the creation of the celestial luminaries, 
there is a distinct statement of their appointment 
and uses, including and specifying one which can in 
no possible way be satisfactorily and adequately ex¬ 
plained in fidelity to the divine Word without ad¬ 
mitting what we claim for the ancient system of the 
constellations. It is there written that “ God said, 
Let there be lights [luminaries, light-bearers] in the 
firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the 
night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and 
# for days, and for years: . . . and it zvas so ” (Gen. 
I : H, 15)- 

Whatever this being 11 for signs ” may mean, it is 
here affirmed to be one of the intended uses of the 
heavenly luminaries. It is also included in the state- 


500 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

ment that God is the author of that use, that it was , 
instituted and established by Himself, and, further 
still, that said use was a matter of fact at the time 
this record was made; for it is added, “ It was so!' 

It has been one of the standing perplexities of com¬ 
mentators to explain what this making of the heav¬ 
enly orbs into “signs” can mean, apart from “sea¬ 
sons,” “ days,” and “ years ” which depend upon 
their natural revolutions. Admit into the case the 
divine formation of the primeval constellations, and 
the whole statement takes on a grand meaning, 
worthy of so solemn and magnificent a record; but 
let that out, and our expositors are all at sea, with¬ 
out chart or compass, and without the possibility of 
suggesting anything worthy of the record or of them¬ 
selves. In other words, they can do nothing with it 
deserving of serious respect, and the whole thing in 
this grandest of all narrations, in which every word 
is overflowing with the profoundest meaning, evap¬ 
orates into a bundle of puerile, contradictory and 
unverifiable human conceits. 

There is in the sacred statement an element of his¬ 
toric fact overlooked by our commentators, but pre¬ 
senting some clue to the real meaning. It is affirmed 
that at the time of the making of the statement the 
use of the heavenly orbs as “ signs ” existed. The 
record is plain : God said, “Let them be for signs , . . % 
and it was so.” The record itself dates far back be¬ 
yond Moses, for the same, in almost the same terms, 
has been found in the cuneiform writings made more 
than two thousand years before Christ. The same 


THE HEBREW PROPHETS, 


501 


is also found in some sort traditionally preserved 
among all the primitive peoples, who must have de¬ 
rived it from one common source antedating the 
Babel dispersion. It certainly belongs to the time 
of Noah, who perhaps was the prophet of God who 
originally wrote it, and from whom the world after 
him received it. 

Was there anything, then, in Noah’s time of such 
note and sacredness as to answer to the statement 
of the actual use of the heavenly bodies as a system 
of “ signs ” ? Unquestionably there was, and that 
system was the system of the constellations. This 
is not a matter of guess or inference, but a matter of 
positive record dating back to Noah’s time, and now 
brought to light in the exhumed remains of the an¬ 
cient Assyrians and Chaldeans. Nay, among those 
remains there has been recovered a written account 
of the Creation answering in every vital particular to 
the account in Genesis, and furnishing what may be 
regarded as the primeval commentary on the bibli¬ 
cal account of the creation of the heavenly orbs, 
especially with reference to the particular statement 
touching their divine appointment as “ signs.” A 
translation of this tablet-record is given at page 407, 
as furnished by Smith and Sayce, who add that it 
tells about “ the constellations of the stars, the signs 
of the Zodiac ,” etc., as God’s creation, and that it 
occupies the place of, and is equivalent to, the 
phrase in Genesis which speaks of the forming of 
the heavenly orbs into “ signs.” Even the whole 
system of the constellations is given in detail in 


502 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


these tablets, and ascribed to the great God as His 
work at the beginning. 

This is the oldest paraphrase of the words in Gen¬ 
esis known to man. It was made more than four 
thousand years ago. It agrees with all the old 
ethnic traditions and beliefs. There is nothing what¬ 
ever to show that it is at all at variance with the 
truth. It harmonizes with the literal sense of the 
words of the Bible, and corresponds with every point 
they contain or suggest. And it must needs go very 
far to fix the meaning of the sacred record on this 
particular item to be, that in appointing the celestial 
orbs “for signs ” God instituted a system of symbols 
and indications by means of them from which man¬ 
kind might ever read the revelations of special divine 
importance, and that this system is nothing more nor 
less than the system of the constellations, everywhere 
and always called “ the signs!' 

Here, then, among the fundamental presentations 
of the Scriptures, we have not only “ intimation,” but 
something of a positive assertion, that the astronomic 
system of the constellations is of divine origin, and 
that it has in it the record of divine revelations. 
Delitzsch agrees that the statement, in part at least, 
refers to the astronomic signs, the constellations. 

A less direct, but an equally striking, indication 
of the same thing appears in the vast range of vivid 
coincidences between the imagery, symbolism, and 
general diction, the doctrines and the prophecies, of 
Holy Scripture, and the pictures, names, and images 
which appear in these ancient “ signs.” So largely 


THE NE W TESTAMENT. 


503 


and so completely does the one answer to the other 
that infidels have seized upon this correspondence to 
prove that Christianity has been derived from the 
myths of the constellations. No one can look at the 
texts cited in this book in connection with the con¬ 
stellations, one after the other, without being struck 
with the marvellous analogy throughout. But how 
could all this have been, or hold good through so 
vast a system, except on the admission that the same 
God who has given us the Gospel was equally con¬ 
cerned in the making of the constellations as a 
grand prophetic record of what, in the fulness of 
time, should be accomplished by “ the Seed of the 
woman ” ? 

See also what is said (p. 27—29) on the nineteenth 
Psalm, which certainly cannot be fairly gone through 
with without finding intimation of a sacred voice and 
record on the starry heavens beyond what the celes¬ 
tial orbs can naturally tell apart from the system of 
the constellations. 

The New Testament. 

And even in the histories of the New Testament 
St. Matthew narrates a case of practical demonstra¬ 
tion that the sublimest elements of the Gospel rev¬ 
elation could be learned from the stars, and were so 
learned by the Wise Men in such clear and convin¬ 
cing perfection that they undertook a long and ex¬ 
pensive journey to pay their adoration to the new¬ 
born King of grace and salvation. Commentators 
talk of the diffusion of what was written by the He- 


504 THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 

brew prophets, and have racked their brains and ex¬ 
hausted their erudition to find out possibilities as to 
how these Wise Men came to the amount of evan¬ 
gelic knowledge and faith by which they were 
moved; but it is, after all, nothing but guesswork, 
and an obtrusion into the record of what it does not 
at all embrace or warrant. The account is that the 
Magi came to Jerusalem led by astronomical i?idica- 
tions; hence the suggestion of anything else is im¬ 
pertinent and contrary to the inspired statements. It 
is possible that they may have had some extraordi¬ 
nary illuminations of the Spirit of God in connec¬ 
tion with the matter of their coming, as they had in 
connection with the way of their returning; but the 
record says that they had their convictions and guid¬ 
ance from the stars , and we have no right to inter¬ 
polate anything else. And if the stars could so 
evangelically enlighten and lead them as to the 
coming of the Saviour, His birth as a child, His 
worshipful nature, the time and neighborhood of 
His advent, and His claims upon the faith of man¬ 
kind, then the stars must have upon them an evan¬ 
gelic record capable of being read, and of conduct¬ 
ing men to faith in Him who was born at Bethlehem, 
crucified on Calvary, and ordained Captain of salva¬ 
tion to bring many sons to glory. How the stars 
were made to fulfil such an office is shown in detail 
in this book; and that they actually did it in the 
case of these Magi we have from the pen of an in¬ 
spired apostle of the Church. 

There is, then, no such silence of the Scriptures 


THE STAR BIBLE. 


505 


touching the origin and meaning of the constella¬ 
tions, or of the connection of evangelic prophecy 
with astronomy, as to make us wonder at the doc¬ 
trine set forth in this book or to raise a reasonable 
suspicion against its truth. 

The Star Bible. 

It is a matter of interest to one who has entered 
an uncultivated field, and who has come to import¬ 
ant conclusions which some, for want of better in¬ 
formation, regard as wild and foolish, to find serious 
thinkers entering the same field and boldly enunci¬ 
ating similar convictions. No man can advance far 
in the study of the mystery of the constellations 
without being convinced of the richness and import¬ 
ance of the subject, or without a feeling of wonder 
that so little attention has been bestowed upon it. 
But antiquarian research has been showing such 
brilliant results within the present generation that it 
is impossible for this territory to be left uncultivated 
much longer. To show that it is worthy of explor¬ 
ation, and to enlist Christian thinking and scholar¬ 
ship in the grand possibilities which its proper inves¬ 
tigation is likely to develop, have been among the 
chief objects of this book; and the author has been 
gratified to find that a venerable German pastor was 
engaged in a like effort contemporaneously with 
himself. 

There has very recently come to hand a volume, 
published in 1883, entitled The Chaldean Star-Bible; 
or , The Starry Heavens according to the Seven Stages 
43 


506 


THE GOSPEL IN THE STARS. 


of the Mithras-Mysteries in Seven Spheres as the Way 
to Completion for Time and Eternity , again after cen¬ 
turies presented anew , by Rev. George Karch .* The 
method adopted by this writer differs materially from 
that pursued in The Gospel in the Stars , and is quite 
too indirect to produce satisfactory results; but it 
nevertheless develops much the same conclusions. 
Believing that the constellations stand in vital con¬ 
nection with the primitive divine revelations, and 
with the purest worship of the ancients anterior to 
and outside of Israel, he endeavors to trace some 
of the vital elements of the old Iranian or Mithras 
religion among various ancient peoples—Aryans, 
Bactrians, Indians, Medes, Persians, Magi, etc.—and 
deduces from the connection between this ancient 
cult and the stellar signs many elements of the true 
biblical faith and hope of the ethnic believers. In 
this line of inquiry he would naturally reach general 
conclusions quite agreeing with those more directly 
developed in The Gospel in the Stars. The book em¬ 
braces forty-five pages of introduction and two hun¬ 
dred and twenty-six additional pages of particular 
discussion, to which is appended a chart of the con¬ 
stellations. There is some lack of thorough elabor¬ 
ation in the way the argument is conducted, but 
there is in it a grasping after the truth, with serious 


* Die Chaldaische Sternenbibel, oder der Sternenhimmel nach 
den 7 Stufen der Mithras-Mysterien in 7 Gebieten als der Weg zur 
Vollendung fur Zeit und Ewigkeit wieder nach Jahrhunderten neu 
dargastellt, von George Karch, Pfarrer. Wurzburg, Druch von J. B. 
Fleischmann, 1883. 


THE STAR BIBLE. 


507 


conviction that there is something in this ancient 
system of star-pictures of infinitely more significance 
and worth than the modern world has even remotely 
suspected. 

To show the beliefs and conclusions of this writer, 
and how they conform to and sustain what we have 
endeavored to set forth, a few extracts from different 
parts of the book are here translated, which will be 
of interest to those who are disposed to entertain 
the subject: 

“ Closer examination with regard to the constel¬ 
lations which make up the Ecliptic,” he says, “ gives 
assurance that there must be an intentional symbol¬ 
ization in the selection and combination of the an¬ 
cient pictures of the star-groups. The very fact that 
many of these figures are so remotely and vaguely 
traceable in the stars themselves bespeaks design in 
the choice and formation of them, especially when 
we take in the pious fancy of the old Orientals and 
their fondness for emblems and likenesses. I am per¬ 
suaded that the starry heavens, according to the re¬ 
ligious contemplations of the oldest astronomers, 
present a picture-gallery of doctrinal and rich spirit¬ 
ual significance.” 

“ Albertus Magnus has written (De Universo) that 
all the mysteries of the Incarnation, from the Con¬ 
ception on to the Ascension into heaven, are shown 
us on the face of the sky and are signified by the 
stars.” 

“ Not from the ruins of Nineveh, not from the 
Rosetta Stone, but there in the heights above us— 


508 the gospel in the stars. 

there where the holy Magi beheld the Saviour’s star 
—we find the primordial record and testimony of 
the way of God to us, and of our way back to God. 
It is there written on the heavens, to be seen and 
read of all men.” 

“ The old Persian sphere, as Aben Ezra found it, 
and as may be read, according to Scaliger, in Peta- 
vius and Dupuis, has for each of the Twelve Signs 
three separate figures or constellations—three De¬ 
cans. The foundation (fundamental idea) of these 
three Decans is given in general in the regular zo¬ 
diacal sign to which they belong; but they give that 
general idea in different and special pictures.” 

“ These old forty-eight constellations all belong to 
one great hieroglyphical system, and all cohere as 
one original casting. They have an enigmatic mean¬ 
ing. They are sacred monuments. Rightly under¬ 
stood, they are a kind of Holy Scriptures in sym¬ 
bolic form, given as a witness to all nations, to aid 
and enlighten reason and to testify of higher divine 
truth.” 

“As these star-pictures have a symbolic meaning 
of their own, it also follows that many of the heathen 
myths will be found to correspond with them, along 
with other analogies. The classic myths incontro- 
vertibly connect with these appearances and move¬ 
ments of the heavenly bodies, and, certainly in their 
most inward meaning, stand related to these star- 
signs and what they were meant to express, since 
they are the same, with only a few local modifica¬ 
tions, among all peoples.” 


THE STAR BIBLE. 


509 


“ Likewise, the alphabet of the Holy Scriptures 
embodies a record and expression of the glory of 
God, the same as it is written on the heavens.” 

This author speaks of himself as advanced in life, 
and says that, being relieved from other engage¬ 
ments, he considered it most fitting for him to em¬ 
ploy his declining years in endeavoring to become 
better acquainted with the heavens, and to do some 
work toward a better understanding of the symbol¬ 
ism portrayed in the ancient system of the constella¬ 
tions—“ the beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars, 
an ornament giving light in the highest place of the 
Lord ” (Ecclesiasticus 43 : 91). 

43* 



































* j \ 












/ • 






























* 

















- 
























































































INDEX 


Besides the ordinary indication of subjects, this Index contains a 
Glossary of the names which occur in the constellations and by 
which particular stars were anciently called. The meanings of 
these names are largely determined by the ancient Hebrew or Noetic 
roots from which they are formed, and the significations are given 
according to the best lexicons and philological authorities. 


A. 

Abarbanel, 436, 439. 

Aben Ezra, 7, 45, 46, 101, 467, 

495 , 5o8. 

Abraham, God’s oath to, 311. 

Action, 308. 

Acubene, the sheltering, the hid¬ 
ing-place, resting, 321. 

Adam, 258, 374, 398, 412, 474, 
483, 489. 

Adhara, the glorious, 302. 

Adige, flying swiftly, 205. 

Adom, cutting off, 101. 

^Esculapius, 126; children of, 
127; pictured Christ, 128. 

Al, the ancient Noetic article. 

Albertus Magnus, 507. 

Achbiya, the fountain of pouring, 

368. 

Al Akrab, the Scorpion, wound¬ 
ing, conflict, war, 117. 

Al Azal, the branch, 75. 

Al Belda, hastily coming, 367. 

Al Botein, the treading under 
foot, 368. 

Albumazer, 7, 23, 45, 60, 76, 
467, 470. 

Al Chiba, the curse inflicted, 

355 - 


Alcyone, 495. 

Al Debaran, the Captain, the 
Governor, 264, 369. 

Al Deramin, quickly returning, 
223. 

Al Dib, the reptile, 159. 

Al Dibah, the slain in sacrifice, 
made accursed, 368. 

Al Dirah, the ill-treated, 369. 

Al Gedi, the kid, the chosen of 
the flock, 324. 

Al Genib, who carries off, 250. 

Al Giebha, the exalted, 346,369. 

Al Gol, the evil spirit, 254. 

Al Gomeiza, burdened, enduring 
for others’ sakes, 307. 

Al Gubi, heaped up high, 93. 

Al Habor, the mighty, 302. 

Al Heka, the driving away, 369. 

Al Henah, the hurt, the wound¬ 
ed, 290, 369. 

Al Iclil, the complete submis¬ 
sion, 367. 

Alioth, the ewe or mother, 327. 

Al Kaid, the assembled, the 
gathered together, 324* 327. 

Al Kalb, the wounding, cleav¬ 
ing, 367. 

Al Katurops, the Branch, the 
rod, 84. 


511 





512 


INDEX . 


Almagest of Ptolemy, 464, 466. 

Al Naim, the gracious, the de¬ 
lighted, 367. 

Al Naish, or Annaish, the or¬ 
dered, the assembled, 327. 

Al Nethra, the treasure, the 
possession, 369. 

Al Okab, wounded in the heel, 
180. 

Al Oneh, the weakened, the sub¬ 
dued, 254. 

Alphabet and Astronomy, 62, 

509- 

Al Phard, the separated, exclu¬ 
ded, put away, 351. 

Al Pherg al Much addem, prog¬ 
eny of ancient times, 368. 

Al Pherg al Muachher, prog¬ 
eny of the later times, 368. 

Al Pherkadain, the calves, the 
young, the redeemed, 324. 

Al Phiratz, the broken-down, 
228, 243. 

Al Phirk, the Redeemer, 224. 

Al Risha, the band or bridle, 
49, 220, 368. 

Al Sad, he who tears, lays waste, 
346 . 

Al Samaca, the upheld, 215. 

Al Serpha, the burning, 369. 

Al Shain, the bright, the blood¬ 
stained, 179. 

Al Shaula, the sting, the deadly 
wound, 367. 

Al Sheratan, the bruised, the 
wounded, the cut-off, 235,368. 

Al Tair, the wounded, the torn, 
179. 

Al Terpha, the healed, the de¬ 
livered, 369. 

Al Thuraiya, the enemy pun¬ 
ished, 368. 

Al Waid, one to be destroyed, 
159 . 

Al Zimach, the shoot, 75. 

Al Zubena, the buying back, re¬ 
demption, 92, 367. 

Al Zubra, the heaped-up, 369. 


Americus Vespucius, 469. 

Ancients, their knowledge, 388 
seq., 392, 484. 

Andromeda, 49, 225 seq.; sym¬ 
bol of the Church on earth, 
228. 

Antares, wounding, cutting, 
tearing, 118. 

Anubis, the god, 307. 

Apocalypse quoted, 29, 90, 109, 
121, 145, 148, 153, 158, 186, 
210, 227, 233, 244, 245, 256, 
265, 268, 276, 295, 298, 299, 
304 , 334 , 335 , 348 , 353 , 354 , 
358 , 359 , 383- 

Aquarius, the Waterman, 42, 
192. 

Aquila, the pierced eagle, 49, 
179, 180. 

Ara, the altar of burning, 48, 
150. 

Aratus, 132, 325. 

Arbedi, covering, 471. 

Arcturus, guardian of the hap¬ 
py, 84, 494 - 

Argo, the company of travellers, 
329, 330. 

Argument of this book, 362, 
462; of skeptics, 5, 67. 

Arided, he shall come down, 
205. 

Aries, the Ram or Lamb, 43, 235, 
237, 240. 

Ark, the, 479. 

Arnebeth, the hare, enemy of 
the coming, 298. 

Arrow, the, of law and justice, 
176 seq. 

Artaud, 470. 

Arx, Areas, Arktos, the strong¬ 
hold of the saved, 325. 

Aryeh, he who rends, 346. 

Ascalius, 76. 

Ash, or Aish, the congregation, 
327 - 

Asmidiska, the travellers re¬ 
leased, 332. 

Astarte, 198. 



INDEX . 


51 ? 


Astrea, 73, 93. 

Astrology, 46, 71, 412, 490. 

Astronomers, ancient, 60, 482, 
486. 

Astronomy, figures in, 3,36—see 
Constellations; mysteries of, 
32; origin of, 34, 55, 387; sys¬ 
tems of, 481; primeval, 39 seq. 

Atik, he who breaks, 249. 

Atonement, 94, 105; salvation 
by, 185. 

Auriga, the Shepherd, 49, 279. 

Aurochs, or Reem , 259 seq. 

Azel, who goes and returns, 205; 
or the same as Al Azal , 75. 

B. 

Baalam, 190. 

Baleus, 392. 

Bailly, 5, 59, 391, 483. 

Band, the, of the Fishes, 220; in 
hand of the Lamb, 221 ; binds 
Cetus, 246, 280; see Al Risha. 

Barnes, Albert, 53, 497. 

Bashti-Beki, the offender con¬ 
founded, 298. 

Bayle, 399. 

Bear, the Great, 327; see Ursa 
Major. 

Believers, fears of, 459; portion 
of, 309. 

Bellatrix, swiftly coming, sud¬ 
denly destroying, 270. 

Benet Naish, daughters of Aish, 
328. 

Berenice’s Hair, 47, 78; see 
Coma. 

Berosus, 171. 

Betelguese, the Branch coming, 
270. 

Bethlehem, star of, 25, 424, 
503 ; well of, 442. 

Bible, the, only rule of faith, 460; 
points to the Gospel in the stars, 
28, 29; chief contents of, 29- 
31, 72, 87 ; the primitive, 64, 
460; recognizes the use of the 
heavenly orbs as “signs,” 21, 


499; recognizes the constella¬ 
tions, 53, 494-497; refers the 
same to the inspiration of God, 
56, 497; on the original man, 
475 > as given to Israel, 488: 
imagery and diction of, 51, 502^ 
503- 

Blessedness, heavenly, 285. 

Bochart, 114, 395. 

Books before the Flood, 477 seq. 

Bootes, the coming One, 47, 83, 
329; not a ploughman, 84; the 
great Shepherd and Harvestei 
of souls, 85. 

Branch, the, 75. 

Brentius, John, 196. 

Bull, the, 263; see Taurus. 

Bundahis, the, on the origin of 
the Zodiacs, 406. 

C. 

Cab’d al Asad, multitude of the 
assembled, 327. 

Cadmus, 160. 

Calisthenes, 389. 

Callisto, 328. 

Cancer, the Crab, holding, pos¬ 
sessing, rest secured, 43, 312; 
myths concerning, 320; symbol 
of the Church, 313. 

Canopus, the possession of Him 
who cometh, 331, 332. 

Can is Major, 50; see Sirius. 

Canis Minor, 50; see Procyon. 

Capella, the goat, atonement,281. 

Caphir, the atonement, propitia¬ 
tion, sacrifice, 367. 

Capricornus, the goat, atone¬ 
ment, 42, 163 seq.; myths of, 
170; salvation through atone¬ 
ment, 185. 

Carlyle, 473. 

Cary, 470. 

Cassini, 389. 

Cassiopeia, the beautiful, the en¬ 
throned, 49 ; symbol of the en¬ 
franchised Church in heaven, 
242. 



INDEX. 


5*4 

Castor, the coming Ruler, 293, 
297. 

CauL/E, a sheepfold, 328. 

Cepheus, the royal Branch, the 
King, 49, 223, 244. 

Centaurs, the, 79. 

Centaurus, the despised, 47, 
78 seq., 465; victim of, 47, 
104. 

Cetus, the sea-monster, 49, 
245- 

Chaldean Tablets, 406, 476, 
500. 

Cheiron, the pierced, 80 seq.; a 
symbol of Christ, 81, 140. 

Chinese on the first man, 393. 

Christ, the glory of God, 28; 
the Seed of the woman, 30; in 
the myths of the Gentile world, 
66; His birth of a virgin, 72; 
the Branch, 75; the desired 
One, 77; double nature of, 78; 
foreshadowed in the story of 
Cheiron, 80, 140; a Shepherd, 
83 ; pictured in Virgo, 85 ; pays 
the ransom price, 94 seq.; en¬ 
dured the cross, 100; gave up 
His own life, 104, 105; limit 
of His humiliation, 108; 
crowned in heaven, no; a 
suffering Saviour, 118; His 
conflict with the powers of evil, 
120; the great Healer, 81, 124, 
126; the vanquisher of evil 
powers, 130 seq.; a triumphing 
warrior, 140 seq.; rejoices the 
universe with His achieve¬ 
ments, 144 seq.; the Destroyer 
of the enemy, 150 seq.; by 
death gives life, 163 seq.; His 
death and resurrection, 173, 
182 seq., 207; saves by atone¬ 
ment, 185 ; gives the waters of 
life, 191; pours out the Holy 
Ghost, 194 seq.; goes forth in 
the gospel, 200; carries and 
preaches the cross to all people, 
204 seq.; His beauty, 208; 


gathers and upholds the Church, 
211 seq., 222; the Lamb of 
God, 235, 238; a glorious King, 
223; delivers and glorifies His 
people, 242; binds Satan, 245; 
the Breaker, 248; the terrible 
Judge, 262 seq.; the Lion, 101, 
340-347 ; in judgment remem¬ 
bers mercy, 279; heavenly 
union with His people, 285 
seq.; one with His Church, 
182, 292; the glorious Prince, 
302; the victorious Lion, 340 
seq. 

Christianity, not borrowed 
from mythology, 68-70; com¬ 
mercial idea in, 94. 

Christians, belief of, 72-76, 78, 
81,86 seq., 208; symbolized by 
fishes, 167,197, 211 seq.; trans¬ 
formed persons, 173, 199; 

hopes of, 333; address to, 256; 
die and rise in and with Christ, 
173 seq., 185. 

“ Christian Union,” notice of 
this book, 454. 

Church, the, rises out of Christ’s 
sacrifice, 164; pictures of its 
development, 312-320; its two¬ 
foldness, 217 ; upheld by Christ, 
221; its glorious King, 223 ; its 
state on earth, 225 ; its kingly 
character, 226; its ill favor with 
the world, 230, 294; its illus¬ 
trious Deliverer, 252; its estate 
in glory, 242; one with Christ, 
292,296 seq.; its blessed hope, 
254; importance of connection 
with, 256 seq.; the beauty of, 
244. 

“ Church Review” on this 
book, 455. 

Cicero, 23, 116, 405. 

Clarke, Adam, 24. 

Colchis, citadel of reconciliation, 
239» 287, 330. 

Coma, the desired One, 47, 76, 
440; new star in, 432. 



INDEX. 5 15 


Commentators, perplexity over 

Gen. i : 14, 15, 499. 

Conflict, the great, 114 seq. 

Confucius, 445. 

Conjunctions, planetary, 434; 
Kepler on, 435 n. 

Consistency, 463. 

Constellations, the, 38; the 
twelve of the Zodiac, 42; the 
thirty-six Decans, 45 seq.; 
modern additions, 39, 40, 464; 
figures of, 3, 36, 39, 492, 497 
(see chart of, at end of this vol¬ 
ume) ; are of sacred signifi¬ 
cance, 4, 22 seq., 507, 508; 
sum of their readings, 413- 
416; great antiquity of, 58-63, 
364-366, 387-404, 482, 501; 
claimed to be from God, 404- 
409, 497; recognized in the 
book of Job, 494 seq.; ordi¬ 
nary explanations of, 3, 115, 
409 «., 461; perversions of, 22, 
411, 490; their claims to sober 
and reverent regard, 64. 

Consummation, the, 358. 

Copernicus, 481, 482, 486. 

Cornucopia, original of, 107. 

Corona Australis, 465. 

Corvus, the Raven, bird of 

doom, 50, 354. 

Crab, the, 312 ; see Cancer. 

Crater, the cup of wrath, 50, 

352 . 

Creation, intention of, 19; Chal¬ 
dean records concerning, 406. 

Criticisms on this book, 458 seq. 

Cross, the, 100-104; issues in the 
crown, 108-110; feast of, 471. 

Cross, the Southern, 47, 98, 
463; why omitted by Hippar¬ 
chus and Ptolemy, 465; not the 
invention of Royer, 465 ; noted 
by the highest authorities many 
centuries before Royer, 467; 
Dante and Americus Vespucius 
on, 469, 470; Artaud, Hum¬ 
boldt and Dupuis on, 470, 471. 


Crown, the Northern, 47, 
110; the Southern, 465. 

Cup, the, 50, 352; see Crater. 

Cupid, 215, 216. 

Cygnus, the Swan, 48, 203. 

Cyrus, 445. 

D. 

Dabih, the hewn-down, the sac¬ 
rifice slain, 166. 

Dagon, 171. 

Dante, 469. 

Days, of the week, whence 
named, 61. 

Death, the price of redemption, 
97, 100, 104-108. 

Decans, parts, faces, the thirty- 
six, 45 seq. 

Delitzsch, 502. 

Delphinus, the Dolphin, resur¬ 
rection, 48, 182. 

Deltoton, the uplifted, 235. 

Deneb, the Judge to come, 205. 

Deneb al Eced, the Judge com¬ 
ing, seizing, taking, 346. 

Denebola, the Judge swiftly 
coming, 346. 

Devil, the evil one, 123; binding 
of, 245; seed of, 120; loose 
now, 247. 

Diodorus Siculus, 479. 

Diphda, the overthrown, the 
thrust down, 247. 

Discoveries, sum of recent, 478. 

Dog, the greater, 299; see Sirius. 

Dog, the lesser, 305 ; see Procyon. 

Dolphin, the, 182; see Delphi¬ 
nus. 

Draco, the Dragon, the trodden- 
on, 29, 48, 53, 154, 159, 348; 
myths concerning, 160. 

Drummond, Sir Wm., 7, 60,482. 

Dubheh, or Dubah, a collection 
of domestic animals, herd, fold, 
323, 327. 

Dubheh Lachar, the later herd 
or fold, 327. 

Dupuis, 5, 23, 412, 470, 508. 



$i 6 


INDEX. 


E. 

Eagle, the pierced, 179; see 
Aquila. 

Ecliptic, the, 40. 

Education, New England 
Journal of, notice of this 
book, 455. 

Egyptology, 472, 479. 

El Acola, the sheepfold, 327. 

El Asieh, the humble, brought 
down, 160. 

El Athik, the fraudful, 160. 

El Kaphrah, the protected, the 
covered, the redeemed, 327. 

El Nath, or El Natick , wound¬ 
ed, slain, 235. 

End, the, 357 seq. 

Enemy, the great, 120; see Ser¬ 
pent , Devil , Satan. 

Enif, the sprout, the shoot, 201. 

Enoch, 60, 62, 376, 395, 483, 
489. 

Epictetus, 116. 

Etanin, the long serpent, 160. 

Eridanus, river of the Judge, 49, 
273; Daniel and Isaiah on, 274, 
2 75- 

Eusebius, 171. 

Evil, what, 22; history of, 348 
seq.; the conflict with, 114 seq.; 
the triumph over, 136,144,152, 
157, 160; must be destroyed, 
342 seq. 

F. 

Faber, G. Stanley, 6,24, 66, 477. 

Fafage, glorious, shining forth, 
205. 

Faith, the, substance of, 29,185, 
208, 209; source of, 460; con¬ 
firmation of, 186, 460. 

Farrar, 437. 

Fent-Har, the bruiser of the 
Serpent, 328. 

Fish, the Southern, 197; see 
Piscis Australis. 

Fishes, a symbol of the Church, 
211 seq., 439; see Pisces. 


Fishing, evangelic, 211. 

Fleece, the Golden, 239, 240, 
297 , 330 - 

G. 

Gale, 396, 400, 405. 

Galileo, 59, 482. 

Ganymf.des, the bright, the glor¬ 
ified, the happy one, 180, 192, 
193- 

Gazette, Fort Wayne, on this 
book, 455. 

Gedi, the cut-off, the slain, 166. 

Gemini, the joined, the com¬ 
pleted, 43, 284, 290, 309. 

Genesis quoted, 15, 30, 88, 145, 
198, 311, 319, 340, 378, 499; 
the Chaldean, 24, 501. 

Gentiles, believers among the, 
424, 447. 

Gesenius, 496. 

Gianser, the punished enemy, 
160. 

Golden Fleece ; see Fleece. 

God, existence of, 72; glory of, 
27; willed to be known, 19; 
hath spoken, 26, 423; forbear¬ 
ance of, 267; oath of, 311; 
wrath of, 352 seq. 

Goodsir, 484. 

Gorgons, the, 251. 

Gospel, the story of, 29, 208, 
460; preaching of, 199-202 ; 
beautiful picture of, 208; in the 
stars, questioners of, in, 458; 
of dirt, 473. 

Grace, heavenly, 195 ; plentiful¬ 
ness of, 196; how carried and 
administered, 204. 

Grumian, the deceiver, 160. 

Guardian, The, on this book, 

456 . 

H. 

Hafiz, 495. 

Haggai, 77. 

Hales, 496. 

Harcourt, 325. 



INDEX. 517 


HarpocrAtes, victim of justice, 
107. 

Heaven, 151; life in, 283 seq., 
311 seq. 

Heavens, the, not an unmeaning 
show, 22 seq., 34; garnishing 
of, 55 , 497- 

Hebrews, 85, 105,109,184,186, 
220. 

Helle, 329. 

Hengstenberg, 168. 

Hercules, or Herakles , the suf¬ 
fering Deliverer, 48, 130; not 
understood by the Greeks, 132 ; 
a picture of Christ, 133; most 
wonderful character in myth¬ 
ology, 134. 

Hermes, 60, 76, 396. 

Herodotus, 487. 

Her-na, the enemy broken, 355. 

Herschel, 3, 82, 486. 

Hipparchus, 432, 464. 

Holy Ghost, the, 193, 194; 
garnished the heavens, 55, 56, 
497; symbolized by water, 
195 . 

Homan, the waters, 201. 

Homer, 55, 126, 146, 269, 300, 
486, 494. 

Hornius, 400. 

Horses, as symbols, 200. 

Horus, the one to come, 106, 
171, 291. 

Humboldt, Baron, 98, 456, 470, 

471- 

Hydra, the abhorred, the fleeing 
Serpent, 50, 53, 347, 351, 496. 

I. 

Idolatry, origin of, 22, 71,490; 
Jewish proneness to, 491. 

Ignatius, 432. 

Ignorance no argument, 462. 

“ Indianapolis Republican ” 
on this book, 457. 

Infidelity, its argument from 
the constellations, 67,111; ser¬ 
vices to a better cause, 5,6, 71. 

44 


Infidels, how affected by this 
book, 455, 458. 

Ingemann, 22. 

Isaiah quoted, 66, 75, 107, 158, 

193, 200, 209, 248, 266, 267, 
270, 275, 278, 281, 304, 343, 
344, 366. 

Isocrates, 116. 

Israel, twelve tribes of, 378; 
segregation of, 488 ; identified 
with the sign of Pisces , 439; 
meaning of their names, 378. 
Izdubar, legend of, 406. 

J- 

Jason, the Recoverer, the Atoner, 
the Healer, 330. 

Jerusalem, the heavenly, 382; 
meaning of its jewels, 

383- 

Jesus, the Saviour, 208; see 
Christ. 

Jewels in the high priest’s breast¬ 
plate, 378 seq.; in the founda¬ 
tions of the heavenly Jerusalem, 
382 seq. 

Job, 54; book of, 54, 327, 390, 
493 ; recognizes the constella¬ 
tions, 53, 494; asserts their di¬ 
vine origin, 56, 497. 

John quoted, 101, 105, 162, 167, 

194, 211, 236, 257, 333. 
Josephus, 60, 395, 405,435,436, 

483. 

Judgment, the, 262, 267, 283; 
prophecies concerning, 266; 
mercy in, 277, 282. 

Jupiter and Saturn, 61, 434; 

conjunctions of, 437. 
Justification and Sanctification , 
95- 

K. 

Karch, Rev. G., his Star Bible, 
505 seq. 

Keckerman, 393. 

Kepler, 59, 435, 437, 482. 
Kiss^eus, 394. 



5i8 


INDEX. 


Knem, vanquished, conquered, 

351- 

Kochab, the star, waiting the 
coming, 324. 

Krishna, 102, 126. 

L. 

Lamb, the, 43, 235; see Aries; 
offices of, 236; victory of, 234; 
marriage of, 295; is also the 
Lion, 341. 

Language, origin of, 473 seq.; 
the original, 479. 

Leo, the Lion, he that rends, 43, 
338 ; work of, 342. 

Lepus, the Hare, the mad enemy, 
50, 298. 

Letronne, 479. 

Leviathan, 158, 246, 247, 255. 

Libra, the Scales or Balances , 
price apportioned, 42, 90. 

Life out of death, 162 seq., 176, 
178; spiritual, 173. 

Light, 17, 189. 

Lion, the, 338; see Leo. 

Lucian, 24. 

Luke quoted, 114, 185, 234,401. 

Lunar Mansions, names of, 44, 
366 seq. 

Lunar Zodiac, 44, 364 seq. 

Lyra, the Lyre or Harp, the joy 
of the victory, 48, 144. 

M. 

Maimonides, 87, 405. 

M^edler, 495. 

Magi, the, 25,425 ; opinions con¬ 
cerning their visit to Bethle¬ 
hem, 426 ; facts and traditions, 
430; following of the star, 
440 ; who they were, 444 ; their 
religion, 445 ; astronomically 
led to Christ, 425, 503. 

Man, primeval, 387, 417; best 
accounts of, 392 seq.; Bible on, 
398, 475» 476; reason’s sugges¬ 
tions concerning, 402; a fallen 
being, 76, 399. 


Mansions, Lunar, 44, 364-369. 

Marriage, mystery of, 198; of 
the Lamb, 295. 

Markab, the returning, 201. 

Matar, who causeth plenteous 
overflow, 201. 

Matthew quoted, 25, 283, 302, 

425, 5°3- 

Mazzaroth, the twelve signs of 
the Zodiac, 390, 496; Miss 
Rolleston’s, 7. 

Medhurst, 393. 

Medusa, the trodden under foot, 
254; decapitated by Perseus, 
251; head of, 254. 

Menes, 394, 479. 

Menestheus, 288. 

Menkalinon, band of the goats 
or ewes, 282. 

Menkar, the chained enemy, 
247. 

Merach, the flock, 327. 

Merodach, the Rectifier, the 
Restorer, 291. 

Merops, 180. 

Messenger, The Reformed, on 
this book, 455. 

Messiah, the anointed, the sent, 
work of, 130, 133; royal maj¬ 
esty and glory of, 138. 

Micah, 248. 

Milky Way, the, 369; constel¬ 
lations on, 370 seq. 

Minchir al Asad, the punish¬ 
ing or tearing of the waster, 
346. 

Minchir al Gorab, the punish¬ 
ing or tearing by the Raven, 
355- 

Minchir al Sugia, punishing or 
tearing of the deceiver, 351. 

Mira, the Rebel, 246. 

Mirak, the weak, the helpless, 
228. 

Mirfak, who helps, who strength¬ 
ens, 250. 

Mirzam, the Ruler, 302. 

Mitchell, Prof., 59, 472. 



INDEX. 


519 


Mizar, the guarded or enclosed 
place, 327. 

Moon, the, 44; orbit of, 16; 
mansions of, 44, 364; some¬ 
times represents the Church, 
198. 

Moreri, 393. 

Muliphen, the leader, the chief¬ 
tain, 302. 

Mysteries, the ancient, 116. 

Myths, the ethnic, 66, 508. 

N. 

Nature, 28, 41, 72, 189. 

Nazareth, 301. 

Naz-Sier, Nazir, Naz-seir-ene , 
the sent Prince, 300. 

Nephele, 237 seq.; children of, 
238. 

Netzer, the Branch, the princely 
Scion, 301. 

New Life, 174, 175, 176, 183. 

Newsdealers’ Bulletin on this 
book, 455. 

Newton, 60, 482, 486. 

Nibal, the mad, 299. 

Nimrod, 269, 490. 

Notices of this book, 453 seq. 

Nouet, 391. 

O. 

Oannes, 171, 172. 

Ogilah, going around, Charles’s 
Wain, 324. 

Okda, the united, 215. 

Ophiuchus, the serpent-holder, 
47, 124. 

Origen, 483. 

Orion, he who cometh forth in 
brightness, the swift, the bril¬ 
liant, 49, 268,494; myths con¬ 
cerning, 271. 

Orpheus, 145; lyre of, 147. 

P. 

Patriarchs, the primeval, 33, 
392 seq.; meaning of their 
names, 374 seq.; their intelli¬ 


gence, 387 seq., 392-401, 475, 
477-480, 482-486; their faith 
and hopes, 187, 207, 402. 

Patrick, 114. 

Paul, 182; quoted, 19, 28, 34, 
109, 149, 175, 198, 216, 225, 
268, 311, 348, 349. 

Pega, the Chief, 201. 

Pegasus, 48, 199. 

Pentecost, 195. 

Perseus, the Breaker, 49, 229, 
248; myths concerning, 250; 
a symbol of Christ, 252. 

Petavius, 508. 

Phaeton, 274, 276. 

Philo, 174, 389. 

Pholas, mediation, 82. 

Phrixus, symbol of the faithful 
Church, 239. 

Pietism, overdone, 459. 

Pi-mentekon, the pourer-out of 
rage, 346. 

Pisces, the Fishes, 43, 214. 

Piscis Australis, the Southern 
Fish, 48, 197. 

Planets, the wanderers, 51, 57; 
conjunctions of, 434. 

Plato, 392. 

Pleiades, 263, 265, 495. 

Plough, the, 328. 

Pluche, Abbe, 115, 171, 242, 
404. 

Pole Star, 322, 325. 

Pollux, the Ruler, the Judge, 
290. 297, 305. 

Poole, E. S., 495. 

Pr^esepe, the bee-hive, the mul¬ 
titude, offspring, the young, the 
innumerable seed, 318. 

Presbyterian, The, on this 
book, 458. 

Press, the, on this book, 453 
seq. 

Printers’ Circular on this 
book, 457. 

Procyon, prince of the left hand, 
redeemed or redeeming, 50, 
306; myths concerning, 307. 



520 


INDEX. 


“ Prophetic Times ” on this 
book, 454. 

Prophets, the primeval, 398, 
400-410, 421, 424, 489; the 
Hebrew, 488, 491, 499. 

Psalms quoted, 27, 102, 114, 

117, 138, 145, 158, 245, 258, 

275, 278, 281, 284, 302, 306, 

340, 344, 346, 352. 

Ptolemy, 132, 391, 432, 464, 
466. 

Pyramid, the great, 5, 58, 388, 
484 seq. 

Pythagoras, 482. 

R. 

Rakis, the bound, the caught, 
299. 

Ram, or Lamb , 535; see Aries; 
feasts of the, 240, 241. 

Ras al Gethi, head of Him 
who bruises, 130. 

Ras al Thalitha, head of the 
height, 235. 

Rastaban, head of the subtle, 
160. 

Rationalism, 459, 460. 

Raven, 354; see Corvus. 

Redemption, 90 seq.; price of, 
98 seq., 104. 

Reem, the, 259, 262; see Taurus. 

Resurrection, 172, 182, 184, 
187, 234, 295, 313, 315, 371. 

Revelation, 26, 69, 72, 460; 
the primitive, 27, 489; perver¬ 
sions of, 70, 490; proven by 
the myths of the constellations, 
26, 69. 

Riccioli, 59. 

Richer, 23. 

Rigel, or Regel , Regulus, the 
foot that crushes, 270, 346. 

Roberts, 23. 

Rod, Jacob’s, in Orion , 270. 

Rolleston, Miss, 7, 26, 324. 

RosenmCller, 496. 

Rosh Satan, head of the evil 
one, 254. 


Royer, celestial chart of, 465, 
467, 470. 

Ruchbah, the seated, the en¬ 
throned, 244. 

S. 

Sa’ad al Bula, witness of the 
rising or drinking in, 368. 

Sa’ad al Melik, witness or 
record of the outpouring, 194. 

Sa’ad al Su’ud, witness of the 
swimming or outpouring, 368. 

Sabaism, 71, 490. 

Sabbath, the, 60; final, 294. 

Sadr, who returns as in a cir¬ 
cle, 205. 

Sagitta, the killing arrow, 48, 
176. 

Sagittarius, the Bowman, 42, 
140. 

St. Sophia, church of, 70. 

Saints, the, 309; rapture of, 371; 
in heaven, 333. 

Sanctification and justification, 
95 seq. 

Satan, 29, 123, 347; career of, 
355 ; end of, 357. 

Saviour, the, 88; see under each 
constellation. 

Scales, or Balances , 91; see Li¬ 
bra. 

SCALIGER, 508. 

Scarab.eus, the, a symbol of the 
history and experiences of the 
Church, 314. 

Scheat, who goes and returns, 
20. 

Science, astronomical, 15, 32, 34, 
36, 38, 41, 58, 362, 388; of the 
early patriarchs, 392 seq., 482; 
modern achievements of, 420; 
recent discoveries of, 478; at 
fault in explaining the constel¬ 
lations, 4, 385; facts of, 480; 
this book not in conflict with 
true, 481 seq. 

Scorpio, the Scorpion, the great 
conflict, 42, 114, 495. 



INDEX. 521 


Sebak, conquering, victorious, 
306. 

Sera, victory by great conflict, 
467. 

Sephina, multitudinous good, 
322. 

Serpent, the, 29, 47, 121, 122, 
348; career of, 354 seq. 

Serpentarius, 127. 

Seth, 374, 394, 483, 489. 

Seyffarth, Dr., 59, 63, 391, 
472, 478. 

Shakespeare, 78. 

Shedar, the freed, 243. 

Shes-en-fent, rejoicing over the 
serpent, 332. 

Sign, what,. 20. 

Signs, heavenly bodies created 
for, 21, 499; of the Zodiac, 42, 
43; of the other constellations, 
47-51; order of, 162, 261, 413 
seq. 

Simak AL Azel, Branch of the 
power of God, 366. 

Sin, 94, 95, forgiveness of, 94 
seq. 

Sirius, the Prince, the Guardian, 
the Victorious, 17, 50, 299; 
companion of, 305. 

Smith and Sayce, 24, 131, 407, 
501. 

Soheil, what was desired, 332. 

Southey, 45. 

Speculation, the charge of, hi. 

Spica, the seed of wheat, 74, 
164. 

“ Standard,’’ The Chicago, on 
this book, 457. 

Star-Bible, 505. 

Star-chart, 38, n. 

Star-groups, 33; see Constella¬ 
tions; figures of, 36; the orig¬ 
inal forty-eight, 39, 64. 

Star of Bethlehem, 424 seq.; 
the following of, 440. 

Stars, distances of, 17; as signs, 
20; how made to speak, 32; 
record of, 410, 449. 

44 * 


Stoddart’s Review on this 
book, 353. 

Stones, precious, made to ex¬ 
press redemption, 383. 

Subilon, the ear of wheat, 75. 

Sugia, the deceiver, 299. 

Sun, the, 15, 17; notation of, 
among the planets, 61, 481; a 
picture of, 302. 

Superstition, generally has 
started from some truth, 22. 

Swan, the, 203 ; see Cygnus. 

T. 

Tarared, wounded, torn, 180. 

Taurus, the Bull, the Head, Cap¬ 
tain, mighty Chieftain who 
cometh, 43, 259, 263, 495; 
myths concerning, 264. 

Tav, or Tau , the Cross, symbol 
of life, 92, 100, 102. 

Testament, the New, witnesses 
to the Gospel in the stars, 25, 
424 seq., 503. 

Thales, 55. 

Theories of the constellations, 
3, 115, 409, 457. 

Thuban, the subtle, 159. 

Toliman, the heretofore and the 
hereafter, 82. 

Triumph, the price of, 136. 

Tureis, the firm possession in 
hand, 332. 

TYPHON, or Pytfion, 11 9,198,215. 

U. 

Ugubinus, 397. 

Ulugh Beigh, 7, 82, 84, 106, 
467. 

Umbreit, 496. 

Under-world, the, 151. 

Unicorn, or Reem , 259; de¬ 
scribed by Csesar, 260; Job on, 
260; Moses on, 260; Isaiah on, 
266. 

Union, the mystical, 168. 
j Universe, vastness of, 17; centre 
I of, 18, 495. 



522 


INDEX. 


Ursa Major, the Great Bear, 
properly the greater sheepfold, 
5°, 327- 

Ursa Minor, the Lesser Bear, 
or sheepfold, 50, 322. 

“ Utica Herald” on this book, 


Vega, he shall be exalted, the war¬ 
rior triumphant, victory, 149. 
Vendidad, the, on the first man, 
393- 

Ventura, 470. 

Victim, the, 104. 

Victory, the final, 336. 

Virgil, 89, 300. 

Virgin, seed of the, 72, 74. 
Virgo, the Virgin, 42, 71 seq., 85. 
Vishnu, 143. 

Volney, 5, 67, 68, 412. 

W. 

Wassat, set, seated, put in place, 
291. 

Water, the beauty of, 189; sym¬ 
bolizes saving grace, 195. 
Waterman, the, 192; see Aqua¬ 
rius. 

Waters, the living, 189 seq. 
Week, days of, whence named, 

61. 


Weemes, John, 475. 

Wesen, shining, illustrious, scar¬ 
let, 302. 

Wisdom, the secrets of, 361. 

Woman, the, her creation, 198; 
represents the Church, 198; 
seed of, 3, 66, 120. 

Wordsworth, 164. 

Writing, origin of, 473. 

Y. 

Yao, reign of, in China, 364. 

Yima, 393. 

Z. 

Zechariah quoted, 200, 224, 
303- 

Zodiac, the, 41; signs of, 42 ; in 
the Chaldean tablets, 406 seq.; 
age of, 58-63, 364-366, 387- 
404, 479, 482, 483; Persian, 
332; of Dendera, 7, 101, 151, 
224, 282, 289, 300, 328, 332, 
351; of Esne, 7, 71 j lunar, 
44, 57, 364, 366. 

Zoroaster, 406, 445. 

Zosma, the shining forth, 346. 

Zuben Akrabi, the price of con¬ 
flict, 93. 

Zuben al Shemali, the price 
which covers, 93. 


THE END, 



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